Hunger of the Heart (Wolves of Ravenwillow Book 1) (9 page)

“I’ll see who it is.”

              Walking up to the door, she rose up on her toes and gazed through the peep hole. On the other side of the door stood a tall man that she didn't recognize. His features hidden and shaded in the confines of his dark blue hoodie, his hand were shoved in his jean pockets as he waited. Keeping the chain lock, she leaned against the edge of the door as it opened.

“Can I help you?” his hidden face remained lowered as he remained silent. After receiving no answer, exasperated; she added, “What do you want?”

              Slowly the dark hooded face rose. Upon seeing his eyes, her heart froze in fear as lifeless eyes that stared through her glowed with a devilish crimson hue. His lips slowly curled up into a spine-chilling smile, revealing sharp canines. “Just a taste.”

              Before Rebecca slam the door closed, his powerful arm shot out, strong clawed fingers wrapped around the edge of the door. Hearing her father approach from behind she struggled to force the door closed. Tightening his grip around the door, Rebecca watched as he used the door as a battering ram into her face. As she was thrown backwards, her body crashing into a near end table and the large ceramic vase that sat on top.  Pain exploded throughout her body as the sound of the metal linked chain snapping and hitting the hard wood floor. Screaming voices echoed around her. Struggling to move, the pain slowly made her world turn to darkness.

* ~ * ~ * 

              The coppery smell of blood slowly drew Rebecca back into consciousness; she coughed as blood from her nose flowed down the back of her throat from her reclined position. Too afraid of what she would find if she opened her eyes. The house was quiet, too quiet. No sound of her mother’s soft humming or the sound of her father moving his newspaper around.

Steeling herself, Rebecca hesitantly opened her eyes. The front door was wide open, confirming that whoever or whatever had come to the door was now inside the house with her. Her heart began to pound faster than the hooves of a race horse. Pulling herself up into a sitting position, her ribs protested painfully at the movement. With much difficulty, using the fallen end table as leverage, she stumbled to her feet. Gasping in pain with her first step as broken pieces of the flowered vase crunched under her bare feet. Cutting and tearing at her tender skin as she carefully felt her way along a near wall in the pitch black room.

With her next step, her foot slid along the cold and damp floor of the hallway. Gripping the side of the entrance way, Rebecca caught herself before she could tumble to the floor again. Moonlight from the kitchen window flowed over the hardwood floor, not a foot away was a sight that caused Rebecca to shove her fist into her mouth to prevent her scream from escaping.

Just beyond the entrance way was long, dark puddle of blood leading from her mother’s slashed arm. Her lifeless finger’s hung open with her blood splattered palm facing up, the rest of her body hidden down the dark hallway. Before she even realized her tears coursed down her cheeks, the sound of heavy footsteps near her mother’s lifeless body had her freezing in terror.

Slowly she edged around the book shelf at her back, hiding her body from view of the entrance way. The small sound of a foot hitting the pool of blood on the floor revealed the killer now stood in the entrance way, just a few feet from her. Slowly looking around for an escape route, she eyes collided with the dark, empty eyes of her father. Sprawled on his back, his blood soaked the floor beneath him leading from the deep clawed slashes along his throat.

This time; she didn’t have time to cover her gasp of alarm. Following her cry was the sound of a low rumbling growl and the continuing sound of slow, but steady footsteps, coming closer and closer to her.

              Covering her mouth to prevent the rising nausea from the stomach turning smell of blood and death, her eyes quickly swept toward the open door. Could she make it before her parent’s killer figured out where she was? Before she could move a muscle, a deep and emotionless voice cut through the dark room, darkly caressing the walls around her.

“Don’t run. I would catch you before you could take a single step. I want to take my time with you.”

Moving around opposite end of the couch, Rebecca leaned her back against the cream colored fabric, hiding herself from the dark stranger’s view as he slowly entered the living room. Several times she heard him sharply inhale, as a predator would while gaining the scent of its prey.

“Come out. I won’t hurt you.” His voice then turned somewhat gentle as if consoling a frightened animal.

Trembling, Rebecca remained hidden trying to assure herself that she was well hidden as he tried to coax her out into the open. “It doesn’t matter, I will find you.”

              Looking at his reflection in the dark TV screen, she watched as he slowly circled toward the opposite side of the living room, his face turning every which way as his nostrils twitched erratically. Her eyes widened as they dropped to his hands. He held his hand loose at his side; fingers splayed in preparation. His fingers were longer than the average person, baring long and sharp claws. As he moved dark trails of blood dripped onto the floor from the frightening points of his claws.

Her heart pounded with a heavy beat in her chest. She wasn’t brave by any means, but even she knew that she couldn’t just hide until he found her. She had to run and get help before she ended up like her parents. Sensing her opportunity, her legs glided through the air as she rushed towards the door.

Just a few more steps…
Rebecca assured herself.

              Her hope was short lived as a large hand tangled in her long hair, jerking her flight to a stop. Sharp claws dug into her scalp as he jerked away from the door, throwing her a short distance away. Landing on her injured side, she cried out. Her hand cover the painful area as she found a large piece of wood from the end table she had crashed into earlier, lodged between her ribs.

              As her attacker slowly approached her, rolling onto all fours, she quickly tried to crawl away. She screamed in pain as five sharp claws thrusted through the fabric of her shirt and deep into the soft muscle of her shoulder. As he tugged her back, his claws ripped down her back, leaving behind five deep slashes as her blood quickly began soaking her shirt. Grabbing her by her neck, her attacker lifted her entire body off the floor before pinning her to against a nearby book shelf.

“Shh. It’s alright.” He murmured when she cried in pain and terror as he ran the back of his free bloody hand along her cheek. “This is how it’s supposed to be.” His lips curled into an almost frightening smile.

“What?” she gasped in fear. Pulling his hand away, he shoved the dark hood away, revealing his dark face to her. Her eyes fell on his with dread. His eyes glowed with a yellow hue as something moved beneath his skin. Suddenly his face seemed more animal, more monster than human. His teeth grew to sharp points as he grinned down at her maliciously.

His lips curled in amusement as he gazed down at the cold body of her father. “You’re prey, every single one of you. It’s time you vermin accept that.”

              Beyond terrified, Rebecca struggled against his hand that currently was wrapped around her throat. A loud growl erupted from between his parted lips, making her eyes go wide in fear at the frightening sound. “Your parents died too quickly. I never got the chance to enjoy their screams. But I am going to take my time with you.” His voice hissed out, his hand tightened around the fragile column of her neck. “I’m going to slice you up into ribbons as you cry for death. But I won’t give it to you too quickly. I want to watch you beg, beg for your miserable life.”

While his dark words dripped from his lips, Rebecca reached behind her, her slender, shaking fingers slid around her father’s silver letter opener. Before she could draw her tightly clenched hand back, he struck. Had it not been for his other hand around her throat she would have fell to her knees. His sharp talons had slashed diagonally across her chest from the left side of her collar bone to the underside of her right breast. His lips curved in satisfaction as he watched her life’s blood began soaking through her the tears of her top.

Flexing his blood coated hand, he prepared to strike again. Not wasting anytime; she lifted her fisted hand, thrusting the letter opener deep into his chest as she could. The feel of the slightly sharp object in her hand embed in his chest made Rebecca sick with revulsion.

Jerking away from her, he released a howl of pain before he turned his anger eyes on her. Wrapping his lethal hand around the handle, he jerked the meager blade from his chest with slight annoyance. 

“You’ll pay for that.” He growled low in his throat.

Before he could move, the sound of loud sirens outside the door exploded around them. Sliding to the floor, the pain and the intensity of her injuries suddenly drained all the strength from her. From outside she could hear car doors slamming as someone approached the porch.

“Police! Your neighbors reported sounds of screaming and a struggle, Is anyone hurt?”

Smirking at her, his eyes glowing once more. “This isn’t over.” He promise viscous snarl.

“Last warning! We’re coming in!”

Glaring coldly at him she remained silent, if she was to die it would be on her own terms; not his. “I look forward to your execution. None of my kind will let you live now. Others will come for you and you will never know mercy from my kind.” his dark laughter echoed around her. Slowly his body began changing. The sounds of his bones snapping and reshaping startled her as his face also began reshaping. Until the man no longer stood before her but a large, snarling brown wolf.

              As two officers rushed through the open door, their guns and flashlights drawn and pointed. “Shit…” one officer murmured his eyes darting over the bloody carnage in the living room.

“Look out!” the other shouted as the wolf charged past them. Holstering his gun, he knelt beside Rebecca. “Call 911! Now!” he shouted to his partner. As his partner rushed out, the remaining officer tried to give what comfort he could.

“Hang on, we’ll get you help. Hang on…” This time she welcomed the dark unknown that followed part of her prayed never to awaken again.

              Rebecca’s body shuttered as her words came to an end. Damon walked silently beside her down the sidewalk towards her apartment. Not once did he interrupt her or urge her on, he simply waited; allowing her to finish in her own time. Shoving his hands in his pockets, Damon tried his best to appear nonthreatening as possible.

“Did you ever figure out who he was or is?” he asked carefully as they passed under a street lamp. His eyes shifting over her averted face and her nervously, wringing hands.

“No. After lying in a hospital bed for days on end, I feared I had imagined everything. When the police came to question me, I didn’t know what to tell them. I told them what I could, anything that sounded plausible.”

“You didn’t tell them the truth?”

Turning to face him, her arms folded across her chest defensively. “You mean; did I tell anyone that I saw werewolf viciously murder my parents and try to rip me into pieces of human confetti?” she sighed, wearily. “No, I did not. Even I knew that all that would earn me is a one way ticket to nearest insane asylum. There were times that I thought that it had all been a dream… or nightmare. There were times I feared if I closed my eyes he would be in the room with me, waiting to finish what he had started.”

Damon’s gaze softened, “It must have been hard, finding that such frightening creatures existed.”

Rebecca solemnly shrugged her shoulders, “At times, but then I saw that your kind; aside from a few incredible gifts, aren’t all that different from mine.”

“And how did you become so enlightened?” he asked with a teasing smile.

“After I took a job as a nanny for the Morvelt family. They belonged to a pack in Canada.” She explained, as she began walking again, Damon mirroring her steps right next to her.

“
Morvelt
? You worked for the most formidable bear-shifters within Doyle Mackenzie?”

Nodding with a slight smile, she continued. “I came to live with them not long after the attack. At first, there was no great connection between the three children I helped care for and myself. But one night, in the midst of a strong thunderstorm, I was awoken by the sound of the frightened moaning of a bear cub.”

“One of the Morvelt’s?” he asked curiously.

“Yes. At first I was too surprised to move and then this small black bear cub leapt into bed with me and straight into my lap. As it curled against my stomach, I could feel it trembling; it was then I realized this small child was just as afraid of the unknown as I was. I wrapped my arms around that small fuzzy creature, the fur and everything else melted away until I held little Anna, the youngest.”

“Did her parents; your employers ever find out that you knew?”

Letting out a held breathe, she shook her head, “No, at the time; Anna was only four years old. I doubt she even remembers. My guess is; during the worst of the storm, when she couldn’t find her mother; her terror caused her to seek me out.” Turning to face him, her arms fell to her sides, “Now, your turn.”

Damon’s blonde eyebrows rose. “My turn?”

“I’ve told you everything you wanted to know. It’s your turn to explain, why are you offering to keep my secret?”

“I’m offering to do a lot more than that, Rebecca.” Looking up at her red brick apartment building, Damon released a light hearted sigh. “I’m offering to not only be your friend, but your protector. That is; until my friend Eric, comes to his senses.”

“First off; if you wanted to be my friend, what was that display at Eric’s house the other night then?”

“Eric is stubborn and too set in his own ways, but; of course you knew that didn’t you?”

Chuckling softly, she nodded. Absently, Damon’s eyes swept over top of her head to stare across the dark, empty street and into a dark alley.  His sharp gaze collided with a pair of trained, green glowing eyes from a lurking figure in the dark. It was the same dark figure that had been following a small distance behind them ever since they left the restaurant.

Flicking his tongue over his bottom lip, he smirked down at her.  “So I intend to playfully nudge Eric's head out of his own ass. Help him see the light, in more ways than one.”

Raising a skeptic eyebrow, Rebecca looked up at him; not fully understanding where his meaning was. Get Eric to see what? “And how do you intend to do that?”

Sweeping his eyes over her head one last time, before his eyes returned to hers, he shrugged casually. “Easy and simply like so,”

Without a second thought or an ounce of hesitation, both of Damon’s hands gripped the sides of her face, jerking her face to his. His lips settled over hers in a stilling kiss, cutting off her squeal of surprise. Too surprised to move, Rebecca held her body stiffly away from Damon’s; her hands held up in defense.

A loud beastly snarl erupted behind them, with an unseen force; Damon and more importantly his lips were suddenly thrown away from Rebecca. The sound of Damon’s surprised grunt as the air was shoved out of his lungs was quickly followed by the sound of an enraged fist hitting flesh. A short distance away, a dark figure was crouched over Damon, their fist tightly fisted at the front of his shirt.

“You conceited, bombastic son of a bitch!” a deep, yet familiar voice snarled out, before drawing back his fist again and smashing it into Damon’s face as he did nothing to prevent it. “Touch her again and I’ll wear your intestines as a necktie!”

Sprinting forward as fast as her high heels would allow, burning her hands in the soft dark locks she gave Eric’s hair a sharp jerk. Caught off guard, Eric lost his balance and falling off of Damon and tumbling back on top Rebecca.

“Ow!” she cried out, as all of Eric’s weight abruptly fell on top of her, sending the both of them roughly into the sidewalk. “Get off me!” she yelled in frustration as the sidewalk bit into her ankle. With a combination of shoving roughly at his back and Eric’s effort to roll off her, she was able to crawl out from underneath him.

Glaring murderously at Eric’s anger filled face, Rebecca walked over to Damon as he quickly stumbled to his feet. His left cheek, already swelled as both his nose and lip bled.

Running his arm against his bleeding nose, Damon absently waved at the fuming Alpha, “Good evening to you too, Eric.”

“You will address me by my rank, beta” Eric’s lips lifting in a snarl.

“Oh, now that was just hurtful, my friend.”

Eric took a threatening step toward him, only to be stopped as Rebecca stepped between them, both of her hands pushing against the solid muscles of his chest. “You dare call me your friend, after what you did?” his voice whispered dangerously.

“I’m confused. Did or did you not say that you had no attachment toward her?” Damon asked coyly, flinching as his lips curled into a smile. “I was under the impression that Rebecca’s heart was free game and free to claim.”

“It is not! Make that mistake a second time; I will make you wish you’d never laid eyes upon her.” His words hissed out as he tried; unsuccessfully, to side step Rebecca’s blocking form.

“Stop it both of you!” Rebecca yelled over top of their arguing voices. Hitting Eric square against his bare chest, she turned her venomous gaze fully on him. “How dare you go around attacking people? If I don’t want Damon kissing me, I will handle it myself. You’re my boss, Eric and I don’t answer to you outside of work.”

Walking over to Damon, grabbing a hold of his hand she firmly tugged him up the cement steps to her apartment. Eric quickly followed, with his shoulders and hands tightening in aggression.

“What do you think you’re doing?” Eric demanded as she led Damon through the main entrance and up another flight of stairs.

“Not that it’s any of your business, but I’m going to patch up the mess that you made of his face. Now, go home.”

“I will not go home. You’re insane if you think I’m going to leave you alone with that backstabbing traitor.”

“Do whatever you want.” Her words tossed callously down the stairwell as Damon and she reached their destination.

Pulling her keys out of her purse, she quickly let Damon inside just as Eric reached the top of the landing. Before he could step through the open door, using her high heeled foot, Rebecca shut the door in his face so hard that it actually wacked him on his nose. Biting back a growl, Eric was forced to open the door himself.

The door opened into a small, simply decorated living room. A small beat up green sofa sat near the door, a black coffee table in front and small TV sitting on top of a worn desk against the opposite wall. Leading out of the living room to the left was a small doorway into the kitchen and a short hall beyond that, more than likely leading to her bedroom.

In the kitchen, Damon sat too comfortable at a small table as sounds of Rebecca moving down the dark hallway. Damon looked up and smiled as Eric entered the kitchen.

“I’d like to thank you, Eric. If you had not nearly beaten my face into the pavement, I likely wouldn’t have gotten invited into Rebecca’s home,” If possible his smug smile grew wider, despite his split lip. “And who knows, maybe even her bed.”

Taking an aggressive step forward, Eric found his hands clenching so tightly that his bones popped. “You
even
fantasize about her bed and I promise you, I will—”

“You’ll what?” Rebecca’s soft, but sharp voice cut in from across the room.

Walking back into the kitchen, her arms filled with bandages and a tall bottle of peroxide. Dropping everything on the small kitchen table, her eyes raised to Eric’s. There was nothing neither soft nor gentle about her gaze. Averting her eyes, she pulled the spare chair in front of slightly amused Damon, trying to ignore the small thrill that raced through her being at the knowledge that Eric stood, hovering behind her. His very presence made heated chills race over her skin. Ripping open a gauze pad and dousing it with peroxide, she tried to focus on cleaning up Damon’s cut up face. An uneasy task, if not an impossible one.

Pausing; she focused on Damon’s amused face, “This may hurt.”

Damon smirked and then winced at the pain from his spilt lip, “Love hurts, baby. I’ll take anything you can give me.” The sound of Eric’s pacing and aggression seems to grow tenfold.

Glaring at his flirtatious filled words, she went to cleaning his spilt bottom lip and a small cut over his left eyebrow, with more force than necessary for good measure.

“Ouch! Easy!” Damon gasped out in defense against her rough handling. “Aren’t you women supposed to be gentle and tender at moment like this?”

Reaching for a dry bandage, Rebecca shrugged her shoulders, indifferently. “I warned you.” Reaching out for his bloody nose she began to stop the slow bleeding, after wiping away the majority of the blood, she tossed the damp gauze on the table.

Gently; she reached toward his swollen nose, smirking slightly when he flinched away from her hands. Slowly her fingers brushed the sides of his nose with calculation.  “Does that hurt?” at his slow head shake, her fingers trailed to the tip of his nose and gave a sharp squeeze.

“OW! Damn it, woman!” jerking away from her hands, Damon glared at her while cupping his pulsing injury.

Turning away, Rebecca went to the task of ripping open a wide butterfly bandage and leaning closer to the flinching and skeptic patient. She wasted no time pressing the wide edges of the bandage over his split eyebrow. Rising and disposing of the bloody gauze, she went to her freezer. Wrapping a small dish towel around a cluster of ice cubes, she returned to Damon’s side, not missing the angry looks that Eric was shooting both of them as he leaned against her counter with crossed arms.

Pressing the ice pack to his nose, she waited until Damon replaced her hand with his. “You got lucky; it’s not broken, just a bit swollen. The ice should help with that and with your lip.”

Flashing his heart stopping smile, he pulled the ice pack away from his face. “I can think about something else I’d like to feel against my lips…”

Before she could tell him where he could put his good for nothing lips, Eric lunged forward. Jerking Damon out of his chair by the labels of his dress shirt, Eric jerked him roughly through the kitchen door way. Forcibly pulling Damon across the small living room, Eric violently wrenched the front door open and shoved Damon out into the dimly lit hallway. As Damon smirked and began to retort to Eric’s rough handling, the door was slammed coldly in his face.

With a satisfied smile on his face, Eric turned the dead bolt into place. Turning; he faced Rebecca with a look of shock and irritation, her jaw hanging open. Eric and his wolf couldn’t help but feel pleased. No man or wolf’s scent would ever caress the air around his mate again; he’d make sure of it. Doing his best to ignore Damon’s lingering scent, he looked around the meager room his eyes scanned the famed photos on the book shelf and on the walls.

“I’ve always wondered what your apartment looked like,”

Finally finding her words, she exploded. “What the hell was that about?!” turning to face her, he lazily crossed his arms over his bare chest.

“Do I really need to explain it to you? Don’t you feel even a tiny bit ashamed of yourself?”

“Ashamed? Ashamed of what?” she scoffed, “How I conduct my personal life is my business, Eric. I don’t need your permission to go out on dates. Damon asked me out and I accepted, what’s there to be ashamed of?”