Un.Requited (Claimed Series) (18 page)

Cole reached for the marker again, but paused at her confession. “That isn’t much consolation, pup. Your mother must have been a saint to last as long as she did.” The light smile across his face proved she was able to manipulate his mood if she tried hard enough. As if sensing her intentions, his humor vanished
. 
“Give me your ankle,” he ordered gruffly.

Maybe Hayden had gotten it wrong. Maybe Blake wasn’t the easiest target to tease after all.

Even in the depths of sleep, she could sense the change in atmosphere. The faint, fragmented wisps of dreams gradually began to turn darker, more ominous. Just as Hayden struggled for consciousness, to escape the advancing nightmares, a hand reached out and shook her.

Gasping sharply, Hayden sat up in bed, floundering in disorientation. Above her, Addie held out her hands in submission, watching as Hayden took a few deep breaths to calm down.

“Addie?” Hayden asked in confusion.

Shakily, she wiped away the beaded sweat across her forehead and surveyed her surroundings. The room was dark and the clock just struck eleven. A deep sense of forbidding settled in her stomach at Addie’s unexpected presence.

“What’s wrong? Is the pack alright?”

Addie shook her head, turning around to grab a pair of discarded jeans from the floor. “Cole has just been called away from the property to inspect a body with the other Alphas. I have a bad feeling something is not right, we should be prepared just in case. Quickly, get dressed.”

Taking the offered jeans, Hayden scrambled out of bed and tugged them on. Apparently, Addie had felt the unsettlement in the air as well.

“Body?”
Hayden repeated with a frown. “You mean there has been a murder?” That would be the only explanation why Cole would leave the property when there was already an atmosphere of unrest around the house.

Appearing hesitant to divulge the information, Addie eventually nodded. “Matthew, a member of Falco’s pack, had recently left to join Nicolas’ ranks as a spy. His body
was discovered
just a few minutes ago. It’s clear Nicolas wanted to send a message to our Alphas, a warning.” The woman peered out Hayden’s window, a noticeable frown line across her forehead. “Cole said he’d only be a few minutes. Blake is currently in charge.”

Hayden stood next to Addie, looking out into the nightscape “There are rogues here.” It wasn’t so much a question as it was a grim statement. She could easily sense the woman’s forthcoming denial to her declaration. “They needed someone to carry the body here, didn’t they?” Hayden demanded quietly. “And they’ll do more than just deposit a dead body. If Nicolas found out they were sending someone to get information on him, he’ll retaliate just at much.”

Addie shook her head. “Hayden—”

Suddenly, a wolf howled piercingly, a pregnant pause weighing in the air when it abruptly silenced. Not long after, a harmony of wolves began following suit with their own cries of warning. Goose bumps raised the hairs on Hayden’s arms as she stared unseeingly into the darkness.

“There’s a gun,” Addie whispered as she clutched Hayden’s wrist. “We hid one up here in case we were separated and attacked.” She turned from the window and led Hayden out of the room. “Blake is outside. He was the one to call out in warning.”

“And the others?”
Hayden asked. It was remarkable that Addie could distinguish apart the members of the pack even if they were in wolf form.

The other woman paused in the hallway, turning to look at Hayden with futility. “Downstairs. Nathan and Fergus are passable fighters. They will protect Devan. We’ll meet up with them as soon as we get the gun. Otherwise, we will only be adding to their burden.”

Hayden could only think about Blake and if he would be able to protect himself without someone backing him up. If he had been the one to start the warning calls, then surely he must have encountered enemies. So far, Hayden couldn’t
sense
any rogues inside the house, but she couldn’t be too sure. Cole would probably be home shortly, unless, of course, he was distracted with his own set of problems.

As Addie reached for the linen closet, a woodsy scent clouded the air immediately before a hand shot out and wrapped around the older woman’s hair. With a sharp tug, the fisted hand flung Addie against the wall, causing the female to fall ungracefully to the ground. Hayden backpedaled
quickly, crouching down just as a clawed hand swiped at her. She looked up, locking gazes with a pair of mismatched eyes.

Hot denial surged through her as she recognized the hulking figure of Tracer. However, her rage only lasted a mere second before the mind-numbing obedience chilled her into complete submission. His mental sway over her wolf made Hayden vulnerable and exposed to his attack.

She stayed upright, frozen, all but greeting his flying fist with willingness. The claws sliced her cheek open and Hayden grunted from the force of the hit. She landed on the ground, staring blankly at the blood that dotted the wooden floor.

“Attack her,” Tracer ordered. It was his will alone that forced Hayden back to her knees.

Her vision was cloudy, tunneled as she watched Tracer kick Addie in the face, bringing the woman back down to the ground. Tracer seemed to be able to control the degree of hold over Hayden, for she never remembered their bond being this strong back in New York.

He leered at her stillness, his sharp teeth snapping near her face. “I said
attack her
.
Now.”

The rogue was her master and she was nothing but a lowly dog as she followed his orders. It was almost as if he was tugging her by the collar, forcing her to carry out his orders. Only, he wasn’t forcing her. Her subconscious wanted nothing but to please this man.

She could do nothing to stop herself. Her body
was paralyzed
to only his instructions.

Fortunately, she still had a sliver of self-control. As Hayden brought back her hand, she made sure to slap Addie with as little force as possible while still carrying out her Sire’s commands.

“Harder.” Tracer clearly saw past her deceit. He curled a hand through Addie’s hair and held the woman’s face for Hayden’s convenience.

His commands seemed to stun her mind and flatline her emotions. He urged her to attack and Hayden could only do as he asked. In the back of her mind, one last fleeting memory flickered.

She remembered Cole telling her about newborns that were
Sired
by rogues and how they were used like puppets to murder the pack that took them in. Cole had taken a chance on inviting
her into his house, and now she was betraying what little trust she had built with him and the pack. Hayden’s guilt flared hotly before her mind completely blanked out.

Tracer’s laughter was sadistic as he watched her continue assaulting the other female. Her wolf took his delight as encouragement and she intensified her attack. Even if the Addie tried to plead with Hayden, her words
fell on deaf ears
.

Whenever the other female struggled against the assault, Tracer was quick to push her further to the ground, holding her tightly by her roots. The blood that stained Hayden’s fingers only acted as fuel for her irrational rage. Her senses began to numb at her Sire’s continued praise, hearing nothing and feeling nothing but his sick glee.

Her Sire then threw the bruised and bleeding prey aside, thrusting a dagger in Hayden’s hands. “I’m getting bored. Kill her.
Quickly.
A stab to the heart should do the trick.”

Dazed amber eyes looked at the dagger in her palm and across at the fallen female werewolf. With a renowned sense of determination to appease her Sire, Hayden brought back the dagger, intent to catch her prey in the center of her chest.

As she hovered over the fallen woman, blue eyes stared pleadingly up at Hayden, striking a chord somewhere deep inside her. A sliver of Hayden’s awareness came back just as she thrust the blade down.

The silver dagger descended, bypassing Addie’s chest and imbedding in Hayden’s thigh. The pain, while excruciating, seemed to clear her senses and her hearing. A cloud lifted and she was forced cruelly back into reality. She closed her eyes against the pain, against the humiliation, and focused on Addie’s relieved sigh.

Hayden collapsed to the ground, pressing her cheek against the floorboards. Down below, she could hear the distinct sounds of a scuffle.
And
as she panted, she dimly noticed that there was a scent of burning fire wafting in from outside.

“None of
that,
no,” Tracer snarled, not missing a beat as he bypassed Addie and grabbed Hayden’s hair. His racing pulse was audible to all ears as he pulled her along the floor, an indication that something was not going according to his plans. “Come. Run. Get up, girl.” His
commands were weaker than they had been previously, or perhaps they just seemed weaker due to the pain in her leg.

Hayden still found herself standing and stumbling after him, more out of her own freewill than his power over her. Her shame was sharp and she never wanted to face Addie again, for what had happened upstairs was unforgivable.

The pain in her leg was excruciating, but with Tracer’s influence, Hayden was able to push past the limitations of her body and follow her Sire. The dagger she held in her hands was slick with both Addie’s and her blood, yet it went unnoticed by Tracer. Awkwardly, she shoved it into her pocket and followed behind him, waiting until his influence lessened before attacking. 

They raced out the house and around to the backyard. The scent of fire was coming from further down the street, near the heart of the town. Whatever was happening over there, Tracer kept glancing back, his long hair billowing behind him as he cast guarded looks around their surroundings.

Hayden followed with a profound limp, watching her
Sire
closely. She had to blink a few times to adjust her eyesight, as her vision began blurring around the edges due to the pain and the exhaustion. He was forcing her at a speed she had trouble keeping up with, not only because of her leg, but because she had yet to go through her last transformation.

From the corner of her eye, Hayden was quick to catch sight of the black shadow following effortlessly alongside them. The more she watched the shadow through the trees, the more it began to take shape. A wolf, pitch black in color, sprinted gracefully next to her. Its legs stretched in a wide, arching stride, moving just as fluidly as a sprung deer. His large paws struck the ground before springing forward, somehow never making a sound despite his speed and solid figure.

She had never seen such a majestic-looking wolf. His very presence commanded unyielding authority, easily banishing Tracer’s mental hold over her mind. It was too similar to Cole’s human form that Hayden knew the wolf running beside her was her Alpha. As a result, Hayden stumbled to a stop, her body collapsing from the pain, from the humiliation.

Tracer looped back toward her, his instincts most likely fueling him to use her as a shield. He reached for her, grabbing her roughly by the throat. Like a coward, Tracer dived behind her, holding her up as a safeguard just as Cole leaped powerfully from the neighboring trees. The black wolf came to a sudden halt, snarling and exposing his sharp teeth for his prey to see, to fear.

“You wouldn’t dare,” Tracer instigated as he kept Hayden flush against him. “Even though she brutalized your grandmother like the animal she is, you still need her to lure Nicolas. Don’t you, Slayter?”

Hayden pressed her eyes closed, feeling the vomit clog her throat. She grimaced against the self-disgust, against the insecurities, and touched the dagger in her back pocket. Through lowered lashes, she watched as Cole continued to growl and pace, his amber eyes never once removing themselves from his prey. Even with the mention of Addie’s condition, he never straightened from his hunched and powerful stance. 

Her fingers skillfully pulled the dagger out of her pocket. Tracer was too busy shifting his body around Cole’s circling form to notice Hayden’s intentions. He was on his knees, one arm wrapped around her torso and the other around her neck. His attention
was so focused, so concentrated, that he never saw the dagger as it angled toward his stomach
. Only when Hayden thrust it mercilessly inside his belly did he falter, screaming in outrage and agony.

It only took the one second slip from Tracer for Cole to take advantage. He planted his paws into the soil and lunged sideways at Tracer. The rogue tossed Hayden to the ground in order to sprint away from Cole’s attack.

He had a few inches of a head start, but the Alpha was closing in on him easily. The black wolf salivated at Tracer’s heels, snipping and attempting to take a bite out of his calf. Cole could have caught him, he
would
have caught him, but oddly enough, the regal wolf suddenly halted and snapped his head back around toward Hayden.

On her hands and knees, Hayden watched numbly as Cole began sprinting toward her with his ears flattened against his skull. With his dilated gaze focused on a spot above her head, he leaped over Hayden’s body, soaring cleanly over her and tackling a looming predator.

Hayden turned her head, somehow not surprised that she could have died if it hadn’t been for Cole. A second rogue stood inches behind her, but scrambled away as Cole came at him.
Unfortunately
for the rogue, he wasn’t fast enough.