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  Nash launched himself at Lucas, unable to see him as anything but someone standing in his way of getting to Stacy. Lucas side-stepped him, and Nash missed in his attack. He circled around and came at Lucas again, but his friend slammed a paw across the side of his head and sent him flying into a car tire. Lucas pounced and pinned him down. Nash fought hard and would have gotten loose if Brant didn’t come down hard on his chest with sharp teeth bared.

  “I’m not your enemy, Nash,” Lucas snapped. “Find her and figure out what the hell you want at that time.”

  Brant began to bark like a regular dog, and Nash glanced around to see several humans staring in their direction. Fuck. Some of them might be wondering if they were losing their minds having heard wolves talking with human voices. Nash barked as well, and Lucas followed. Relief slid into the people’s expressions as if they were glad it had all been a trick of their imaginations after a long day at the office. They moved away, still leery of the wild animals.

  Lucas and Brant climbed off of Nash’s chest, and he stood up to sniff the air around them. Kevin was close, and where Kevin was, he would find Stacy. Fifty feet from the location of their fight, they paused in unison at an alley, and Nash didn’t hesitate to take the dark entrance. Head low, ears pricked up to catch any sounds, he padded on quiet paws down the narrow passageway.

  Brant behind him began to growl. Nash had smelled it too. Blood. Lots of it. When his paw came down in something thick and wet, he knew he’d found what he was looking for. Even in the darkness, he could make out the man’s form as if it was twilight. Kevin’s sightless eyes stared back at him from the concrete.

  “What the hell is going on here?” Lucas demanded.

  Nash shook his head. “I don’t know, but one thing is for sure. Kevin was murdered by a wolf, and there’s no fresh scent of Stacy’s anywhere around here. Where is she? Where the hell is Stacy!”

  * * * *

  Stacy landed on the floor, curled in a ball. She swallowed repeatedly to keep from throwing up at the sharp pain in her wrist. She’d gotten out of the bonds, but in the process had hurt her wrist. She prayed it wasn’t sprained, or worse, fractured. Her throat dry, and her heart pounding, she pushed with the other hand up off the floor and then felt around in the dark. This was no time to pause to catch her breath or to feel sorry for herself. Whoever had taken her could come back any second. She had to keep moving.

  While she fumbled one tiny step at a time, she tried to recall the last thing that had happened to her before she woke up tied to the bed. The side of the highway. She’d pulled over because she had been freaking out over hurting Kevin...again. And then she had started feeling dizzy, like she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Had Kevin slipped her something to make her sleep and then brought her here? Would he do such a low thing? She didn’t give him any play like he wanted, so would he go this far? Impossible. She’d known Kevin for years. He might stoop to tricking her or getting a free feel of her ass sometimes, but kidnapping just didn’t fit his personality. That boy would be too scared So who then? Who would do such a thing?

  Then it hit her. Alphons. She had been talking to him on the phone at the time, and for that matter, she couldn’t remember them sleeping together at that motel either. It fit. And then shock and terror took control of her hard. Her fingers had just closed around the bedroom doorknob when the possibility that Alphons might have drugged and raped her hit her mind.

  Tears poured down her cheeks, and the nausea she’d fought off minutes ago, returned with a vengeance. Her legs grew weak. She shook her head and covered her mouth while she swayed side-to-side, struggling to remain on her feet. All this time, with Zandrea and Nita’s experiences with the shifters, Stacy had thought it was sexy. She’d been happy for her friends but jealous too because she wanted a man. Someone for when loneliness hit or an urge needed to be dealt with. But they were...they were...dangerous. They were animals who took what they wanted, when they wanted it.

  Stacy remembered how Lucas was when he first met Nita back at the club. He’d been all over her, and Stacy had to practically beat him off and argue until she was hoarse to make him leave Nita alone. Yet, in the end he’d gotten her. So now what? Alphons wanted her, and she didn’t have any say in the matter? What about Nash? No, he didn’t want her, and that was for the best. She didn’t want anything more to do with any of them. Not Alphons, not Nash, and not even Lucas and Brant. It was a good thing that her friends lived in a different city now. That was best for all of them.

  A thunderous crash sounded on the other side of the door. Stacy screamed, turned, and ran across the room blind. She tripped over something and fell flat on her face. Before she could regain her feet, the bedroom door opened, and feet shuffled across the floor. Hands grabbed at her, and she shut her eyes and began to kick and scream. That asshole Alphons wasn’t getting any more of her body if she had to dig his eyes out or die fighting him off.

  “Stacy!” Nash cried out. “Baby, it’s okay. It’s me. Calm down. I’m here to take you home.”

  He tried to take her into his arms, but she kicked harder and swung her fists at him. Pain ricocheted through her sore wrist, but she ignored it. “Don’t touch me, animal,” she shouted. “Get you filthy hands off me. I hate you. I hate all of you. Don’t touch me ever again!”

  Chapter Thirteen

  Nash sat on the couch in Stacy’s apartment, dressed in a pair of slacks, bare feet, and his shirt hanging open. He had slipped into clothes only for the sake of Zandrea and Nita, but he would take them off again soon, so he could hunt down Alphons and end his life.

  “What are you going to do?” Lucas said.

  “You don’t need to ask.”

  Lucas perched on the edge of the couch and folded his arms over his chest. “I’ll go with you when you go. I know you wanted to be sure she was okay. It couldn’t have been easy putting her out like that so you could bring her home. You did the right thing.”

  “Don’t patronize me,” Nash growled. “I know I had to use a pressure point to get her to sleep so she wouldn’t hurt herself. I know she doesn’t trust any shifter after all of this. What I don’t get is why the bastard faked the beating. He didn’t lay a hand on her that we can see, but he went and killed Kevin. What is he up to?”

  Zandrea came out of the back room, anger simmering in her dark brown eyes. She almost exuded the aggression of the wolf. More and more she was like them. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say she was becoming a wolf shifter. She crossed the room and stopped in front of Nash. Before he could blink, she slapped him hard across the face. “You son of a bitch! Why did you let this happen to her? Why didn’t you protect her?”

  Nash stood up, crowding her. He was angry, but he wasn’t about to hurt her. Brant nearby, still went on the defensive. Nash moved out of reach of Zandrea’s hand. “For your information it’s not my responsibility to protect her. She’s not my mate.”

  Zandrea shrieked and would have come after him if Brant hadn’t caught her around the waist and held her against his body. “I want him found and killed,” Zandrea screamed. “Stacy said he raped her. She doesn’t remember anything about sleeping with him, but he says they did after the party at a motel. How could she not remember? What did he do to her? Do you hear me, Nash? You’d better make it your responsibility and find Alphons and kill him for what he did to Stacy!”

  Nash had gone still, as well as his friends. Stacy couldn’t remember being intimate with Alphons? He recalled his time with her in detail, how tight she’d been, how perfect. He remembered thinking that even though she wasn’t a virgin, she felt like one, and he couldn’t believe how good it was being inside her. If Alphons had spent the entire night having sex with her—and being a wolf shifter, he would have—then Stacy would have been sore as hell and definitely not tight.

  He exchanged glances with Brant and Lucas, and both his friends nodded. Nash crossed the room and entered the bedroom. Behind him, Zandrea was still ranting, and he guessed, still fighting t
o get free of her mate so she could slap him again. She couldn’t cause any real damage, but then he wasn’t in the mood for her attitude either. He knew what he needed to do. He knew that even though Stacy wasn’t his mate, he’d kill for her in a heartbeat. Beyond that, he would do what he could to protect her.

  When he entered the room, he found her lying across the bed, her face buried in a pillow. Nash picked up small sniffling sounds coming from her while Nita rubbed her back.

  Nita glanced up when she heard him and gave him the same accusing look. Why did they both blame him as if this was somehow his fault? He felt the same way, but they didn’t have a right to. His lips compressed, he could barely push words past them to ask her to leave him alone with Stacy.

  “Why should I?” Nita snapped. “She doesn’t trust shifters, and if I wasn’t mated to Lucas, I wouldn’t either. All it’s produced is trouble, and poor Stacy doesn’t deserve this. What do you want, Nash?”

  He neared the bed knowing his face was impassive, not giving a clue to the emotions churning inside him. “That’s between Stacy and I. Leave.”

  “You bas—”

  “Honey, come here,” Lucas called from the doorway.

  Nita gave Nash another harsh look, but without hesitation, she walked to obey her mate, and the two left the room, closing the door behind them. With a sigh, Nash moved to take up the warm spot beside Stacy that Nita had left. He reached a hand out to touch her but changed his mind and drew back. Putting space between them was safer, so he shifted to a chair at the side of the bed.

  “Stacy, turn over and talk to me, please.”

  “You know what you can do for me, Nash,” she responded in a muffled voice.

  “I want to talk about you sleeping with Alphons.”

  She sat up. “You cannot be serious! Damn, you men are all the same. Always in competition with each other. Don’t want anyone to one up you? Are you worried about me preferring him over you? Well don’t worry about it because you dumped me over the phone, remember? Besides, I’m never getting involved with your kind ever again. Got that? Ever!”

  He had sat quietly while she ranted, but then he stuck a hand out and grabbed one of her tight fists agitating the blanket around her waist. She had been trembling uncontrollably when he had brought her home, even fully dressed and unconscious. Seeing her that way had torn at him in ways he did not want to explore.

  Before he could make contact with her hand, she drew back, and fear filled her eyes. Nash’s throat closed with anguish at making her afraid. “Don’t,” he whispered. “I would never hurt you, Stacy. I promise you that.”

  She looked away. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”

  “I don’t believe Alphons ever had sex with you.”

  “What are you talking about?” She would have stood up, but he pushed her back down and jerked his hands from her shoulders when she shuddered. However, she didn’t try to rise again. He had to be satisfied with that.

  “When we were first together, the experience was...” He did not want to admit how good it was, that he couldn’t get the memory out of his head. “You were almost like a virgin, tight...There is no way you had sex with a shifter before me and was not worn out afterward. Remember how you were after you and I were together for one day?”

  She gasped. Her eyes widened, and then hope entered the deep chocolate pools. “Do you really think so?”

  He nodded. “I do.”

  She chewed her lip thinking about it, and it was all he could do not to run his tongue over that soft flesh and taste her until he was drunk from her sweetness. How could have told her he wouldn’t see her anymore? How could he think he could live with that? Every atom of his being ached to possess her and make her his. He closed his eyes. No! He would never take a mate. Not even Stacy.

  “But why?”

  Her words jerked him out of reverie, and he was grateful for it. “I’m not sure, but I suspect it’s because he wants my position. He wanted me to make you my mate, and Alphons strikes me as the kind of wolf that loves it so rough, he would tear his lover. You could never be with me if he damaged your body. Being human, you wouldn’t heal so easily.”

  She shivered. “Are you for real? That’s depraved! How could he like hurting his partner?”

  Nash shrugged. “It’s the animal in us.” He narrowed his eyes on her. “The animal in all of us shifters.”

  Some of the usual boldness came back to her expression, and she rolled her eyes at him. “Uh huh, you think I don’t know what you’re trying to say, Nash? Don’t even worry about it. I have never chased after a man, and it’s for damn sure, I’m not chasing after you.” She stood up and dropped the cover to walk over to the window. Nash had trouble keeping his eyes off her ass. After a few moments, he didn’t try but enjoyed the view.

  “I wasn’t playing when I said I don’t want anything to do with any of you. The fact that Alphons never touched me doesn’t change that.” He thought he caught a small sob before she went on. “He didn’t want me, and neither do you. I’m just some kind of tool for shifter games. Whatever. I’m a strong woman, and I can take care of myself. If you didn’t come after me, I would have found a way back home on my own.”

  Nash rose and strode over to stand behind her. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t let her think he didn’t want her. Thinking that she wasn’t desirable had hurt her deeply. He could almost feel the emotions ripping through her. He rested his hands on her shoulders and leaned down to nuzzle her neck, grateful that she didn’t flinch or try to move away. “Silly woman, you are the most beautiful creature I’ve ever laid eyes on. My body comes alive just hearing your voice, and my shaft tightens painfully when I touch you.”

  He moved in close so their bodies were molded together. “Tell me, does this feel like I don’t want you?”

  This time she shivered and arched her back so that her ass pushed into his hard-on. He suppressed a howl of need but grinded into her.

  “Stacy, I want to be buried so deep inside you that I can’t find my way out. I want you to scream my name as I make you come again and again. Do you understand that?” His voice had grown harsh with his control nearly unhinged.

  “Y-Yes.”

  “Don’t ever think I don’t want you.” He turned her in his arms and dragged her tight to his chest. He spoke against her soft lips. “Just because I have decided not to make you my mate does not mean I don’t desire you or that I can’t get enough of this luscious body. It’s incomparable, without a doubt.”

  A tear rolled down her cheek, and he wiped it away.

  “Baby, don’t be afraid. I promise. I’ll find him and kill him for hurting you.”

  She didn’t meet his eyes but stared straight ahead, her plump lips curved in determination. “I know you will, and I’m not scared anymore. But I want to know one thing, Nash. And I mean it, don’t you lie to me.”

  He stiffened, sensing what she was going to ask. “What’s that?”

  “Why don’t you want a mate? Why don’t you believe in love?”

  Chapter Fourteen

  She watched his eyes drift away, like he was both remembering something from his past and avoiding talking about what his issues were. His hands slid down from her hips to land at his sides, and he turned away. Stacy suppressed a whimper. Just like she told him, she wasn’t begging for his attention even though it hurt for him to turn away from her. She thought if she confronted him on the fact that he hadn’t shared anything about his past with her, that would make him talk, but apparently not.

  “Okay, fine. Whatever, Nash. You can kiss my ass.” She moved to walk by him, but he caught her and held her in place. She didn’t say a word, but waited for him to speak.

  “I had a mate.”

  She gasped. “For real? Where is she?”

  His face was like stone. “Dead.”

  Stacy couldn’t believe the jealousy that rose up inside her. He still loved this woman, and it was wrong for her to hate that, but she did. She was sorry she
had asked and felt like crap for pushing him when it still hurt him so much. “I’m sorry. Just pretend I didn’t—”

  “She was human.” At her expression, he smiled. “Yeah, hard to believe, isn’t it? And cruel that fate would hand me another human woman who makes my blood boil?”

  Warmth washed over her. So the man wasn’t immune to her. She had to admit she liked the sound of that, but he didn’t seem like he was going to give in to those feelings any time soon. She wondered if Alphons had suspected as much, had known Nash was stubborn as hell and that it would take him kidnapping Stacy to push Nash to make her his mate as a way to protect her. Stupid. He hadn’t counted on Nash not falling in love with her.

  Nash could have her body to satisfy his lust, but only love would drive him to make her his mate. Even she knew that. Alphons thought he was all that, but he hadn’t planned on Nash being this hardcore, or that whatever pain he was still experiencing over his former mate wasn’t letting him go so quickly. Figuring it out made Stacy want to cry all over again because it didn’t give her any hope either. She had run her mouth talking about she was done with them, but the fact of the matter was, she loved Nash. Fool that she was, she loved his stubborn ass with all her heart.

  After some time, Nash went on. “Funny as it might seem, I think I would have handled it all better if she had been killed. I could have moved on and found another mate after some time. But being human and not having our healing ability, Sondra contracted a human disease.”

  Stacy sank to the bed with a hand over her mouth. She swallowed and then reached to pull him close beside her so she could hold him. He didn’t resist, and she kissed his cheek and rubbed his back. “Cancer?”

  He nodded. “Pancreatic cancer. I watched her grow weaker with each passing day, and I cared for her until the end. It took everything inside me to let her go and not go with her when she passed. From then on, I decided a smile was all I would ever show to the world. No one would know how losing Sondra had destroyed me. I am still fractured, and nothing could fix that. No one could fix that.”