It Begins With a Rogue's Bite (10 page)

She’d just taken a few steps forward when the ground under her turned to mud, which acted like quicksand. Her body slowly sank into the viscous mixture, keeping her from escaping.

By this time, the creature that howled earlier inched closer. She could sense its eyes on her. No doubt it was ready to attack. She turned her head to the sound but saw nothing, only darkness. Her heart achingly hammered in her chest in fear.

Where was it? It hadn’t gone away because she still heard its breathing. It sounded like a bull’s panting breath right before it charged the matador. Dear God, she tried to pull her legs through the condensed sediment encasing her lower body, but she couldn’t move, only sank deeper into it. Barely able to expand her lungs to breathe, she remained motionless, her eyes wide searching for any sign of whatever lurked near her.

Then a deep, animalistic voice growled behind her. “Did you think you could escape me, Cheryl? Leave me? Those men can’t protect you from me. I’ve found you, and you can’t escape again.”

She turned to gaze at red, haunting eyes. They seemed to float in the air, getting closer to her. Gradually, a silhouette of a face began to form around those possessed eyes. Its body followed.

Fur, claws, turned-up ears, and a snout became defined. Good heavens, it was a beast. When its jaws opened, its sharp, deadly fangs projected outward just as it pounced on her.

Closing her eyes, she turned her head back, screaming uncontrollably, “
No!
”

Chapter Eleven

Shane had finally fallen asleep when a female’s voice cried, “
No!
”

Disoriented, he jumped out of the bed thinking it was his bed at home and smacked into the wall beside him. Stars fluttered behind his eyes as he tried to focus on where he was. Damn! He forgot they were in The Haven.

Looking over at his brother, he saw Thomas slowly get up.

Another cry brought Shane to full consciousness. Glancing through the mirror, he focused. Cheryl thrashed on the bed, crying, screaming in fright. Barefoot, he bolted for the door with Thomas not far behind him.

Within a few seconds, he made it into her room and to her bed. Sitting down beside her, he gently grabbed hold of her arms and shook her.

“Miss Brete, it’s a dream. Wake up.”

But she continued to cry and thrash.

Bringing himself closer to her ear, he said, “It’s only a dream. It’s not real.”

“Shane?” Her eyelids flickered, and she looked up at him in grogginess.

“That’s right. You okay?” He nodded.

“What?” She sat up and frowned.

Thomas sat on the other side of the bed and took her hand. “You were having a nightmare.”

Fear returned in her eyes, and she leaned into Shane’s chest, crying. “He wants to kill me.”

Shane’s heart sank seeing her in tears and fear. He hugged her and caressed her hair, whispering in her ear, “Shh, no. No one’s going to hurt you.”

God, her body fragrance was changing. He closed his eyes, inhaling it, taming his urge to kiss her neck and nibble her ear.

Her sobbing continued and with every rise of her chest, her breasts pushed against his chest. There was nothing more bewitching than a crying damsel who sought comfort in a man’s arms.

Thomas rubbed her back and said in a soothing voice, “We’ll never let anyone hurt you.”

Shane gave him a stern look that seemed to say,
Why the hell did you say that?

They were supposed to be pretending to be nurse’s aides. Nurse’s aides didn’t go around saying stuff like that. Thankfully, Cheryl didn’t pick up the oddity of his statement. She probably didn’t hear it with her sniffling and crying.

Shane rocked her gently back and forth. It seemed to ease her, and within a minute, she had calmed down enough to sit up and wipe the tears from her eyes.

“I’m sorry. You must think me crazy.”

Shane smiled as he brought his hand to caress her soft alabaster cheek. “No. After what you’ve been through, it’s perfectly understandable.”

Her eyes widened. “I thought no one knew what happened to me. The doctor said someone found me hurt in the woods and brought me here.”

He shifted his eyes at his blunder. Thinking quickly on his toes, he replied, “Ah, I’m talking about the physical ordeal. The blood loss, the wound. It took a toll on your body and, in turn, your mind.”

She nodded in apparent understanding. Phew, that was a close one. She couldn’t find out they were the ones who found her. She might remember they turned into werewolves. The doctor had warned them that Cheryl had blocked the attack and what happened after that from her memories. They shouldn’t remind her of what happened, but wait until the memories came to her all on their own. Once she was emotionally ready, she would remember.

Thomas took the pitcher on the nightstand and poured her a glass of water. “Here, drink this. It’ll help.”

“Thank you.” She forced a smile as her eyes met his and took the glass, swallowing a couple of gulps. Then she lay back on the bed and yawned as her eyes appeared heavy with fatigue.

Shane checked the clock on the wall. It had been only a couple of hours since the nurse gave her the sedative. The horrible nightmare had bolted her temporarily out of slumber, but the effects of the drug still remained in her body. She needed to rest.

He got up to head on out. “Go back to sleep. We’ll come back when you wake up later.”

Fear etched her features as she bolted up in bed and grabbed his arm. “No, please don’t leave. I don’t want to be alone. That dream felt so real.”

“Sure, okay. We’ll do whatever you want, Miss Brete.” He sat back down and tapped the top of her hand gently.

“Please call me Cheryl.” She lay back again, smiling.

“Okay, Cheryl.” He stared at Thomas who gave him a look. Knowing his twin like the back of his hand, he knew what he would ask next.

Acting as nurse’s aides was only part of their assignment. They were also charged with identifying the Rogue who’d attacked her.
Her nightmare had obviously been about her ordeal.

Thomas asked, “Would you like to talk about the nightmare? It might make you feel better.”

She nodded while she sat up once more. “All right. It started out that I was invited to a party and was looking for my best friend there when I found you two instead.”

Thomas pushed a button to lift the head of the bed, probably so she could rest since she looked uncomfortable and fatigued.

With perplexity in his eyes, Thomas gazed up at Shane when she wasn’t looking then asked, “Us? What were we doing in your dream?”

She turned her gaze away and blushed. “Oh. Ah…you were guests there like me. We were talking on the terrace when the dream changed, and I ended up being in the forest. I sank into the earth. I guess it was quicksand I stepped into, and then I heard noises, animal noises, from behind me.” Her eyes turned frightened, and she brought her hand up to her mouth, biting her nail in apparent nervousness.

Between bites, she continued. “It was so scary. I couldn’t see it but could hear it. Then red eyes appeared and soon the rest of its body. It was a beast, some kind of creature.”

Shane frowned. “Creature? What did it look like?”

She shook her head as if to ward off its image from her mind. “It looked like a tall ape. No, more like a wolf. Only it stood on its hind legs. Its fangs were huge. It pounced on me.” She brought her hands to cover her face. “It was horrible!”

Shane pulled her hands away from her face. She stared at him with tear-filled eyes while she sniffled. Bringing his hand to her warm cheek, he caressed it, trying to console her.

“Shh, don’t cry. It’s over. It was only a dream, and he can’t hurt you.”

She tilted her head so as to lean into his palm as if absorbing the inner strength he offered her. Thomas, who stood next to her bed now, began to caress her hair, which seemed to soothe her even more.

They needed to change the subject. The nightmare had to be forgotten.
No clues there that can help us
. “Let’s talk about cheery stuff. Why don’t you tell us about yourself?”

She looked at him, then at Thomas, smiling slightly. “There’s not much to tell.”

Shane laughed. “There’s always something to tell. What is it you do?”

“I’m a secretary in a law firm.”

Hmm, maybe that was a clue as to why the Rogue chose her. “Wow, cool. What type of practice? Criminal law?”

She choked a laugh. “I wish. Hardly. Just plain divorce lawyers.”

Dead end there.

“What about your social life?” Did he dare ask such a question now? Hell yes, he did. Curiosity got the better of him.

A serious look came over her as she looked downward at her folded hands. “That’s complicated.”

Complicated.
How he hated the sound of that.

“Complicated how?” Thomas asked while caressing her hair.

“Well, I was in a long-term relationship with someone for over three years until it ended in January. At first, things were good. Really good and I fell deeply and madly in love with him. Unfortunately, he really didn’t show me the real him in the beginning. His true character began to show months later.

“By then though, I was too deep in it emotionally to break free. I found out he had a drug problem, which slowly became his obsession. And he turned out to be a womanizer, chasing any groupie who followed his band. He was a drummer of a rock band.”

She sighed as her eyebrows furrowed in thought. “He certainly wasn’t the man I thought he was. He changed into someone I didn’t recognize anymore.”

Shane stared at the wall when thoughts of his past haunted him. “Yeah, I never understood why some people can change so much in so little time.”

“Sounds like you know where I’m coming from,” she said, tilting her head to gaze at him with concern.

“In a way, I guess we all do.” Shane looked at her, then at his brother who stared at him, nodding.

Thomas had been there for him when his wife Marian left. He was his lifesaver in a way. If it weren’t for his twin’s support, he wondered what would have become of him. Thanks to Thomas, who pushed him to get on with his life, they finally decided to pursue their dream of opening their own architectural company.

Shane dove into the project full force and soon the company began to prosper. Even though they remained part of the Voyeurs’ society, their clients were humans from across Alaska. It took some time, but he let go of the past and got his life back on track.

Gazing into her eyes once again, he said, “What did you do after that, Cheryl?”

She took a deep breath. “I still stayed with him because I loved him. Oh, I’d break things off when his mental abuse got too much, but he’d come back acting like the sweet, vulnerable man I first fell in love with, and he’d beg me to take him back because he was lost without me. He loved me.”

She frowned. “And the sucker that I was, seeing the man I fell in love with surface weakened my defenses, and I’d take him back. He’d be good for a few months, and then he’d go back to that dark person I didn’t recognize.

“At the end of our relationship, his mind changed completely because of overuse of drugs, and he began to have drastic mood swings. At first, he showed his anger through verbal abuse, but at the end after I had left him for the umpteenth time, he put a knife to my neck and threatened to kill me if I left him again.”