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Authors: Hmonroe

Tags: #romance, #urban fantasy, #paranormal romance, #short story, #werewolf, #shape shifter, #new adult

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BOOK: Shaping Destiny
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Max came close to me and
raised my chin with his fist. “Don’t worry, I will always be
around, and I will always know when you’re in danger.”

“How?” I
whispered.

“I just will. Now let’s
get you home so you can stop shivering.”

Yes I was shivering, but
it wasn’t from the cold.

 

CHAPTER SIX

Our good-bye that night
felt like I lost my best friend. It didn’t make sense how I felt,
and my brain couldn’t understand the intense pull Max had over my
heart. There was no use in telling him how my body reacted to him,
or how my soul recognized him as someone important. How could you
tell someone whom you know so little about that you want to see
them again? Plus, I was his job and only an assignment. He told me
he couldn’t see me again. If that wasn’t hint enough, I don’t know
what was. It was for the best, anyway; I had a
boyfriend.

Weeks had passed since
that night, and sometimes I wondered if everything that had
happened that night, including Max, was a dream. It was strange,
but even though we’d barely spoken and I couldn’t remember all the
details of his face, something in my soul ached for him. I tried to
hide the yearning behind homework and friends, but there was no
getting rid of it. Jared and I made the cut for the ballroom team,
so three days a week our team met for practice. Because dance was
my favorite enjoyment, it helped my mind stay focused on college
life.

“Are you still doing
homework?” Melissa asked. The kitchen table turned into my favorite
place to bury into work. “The last couple weeks, if you’re not with
Jared you’re here for hours reading and writing. You need to get
out more, hang with the girls. There’s a stag dance going on at
campus. You should come. What is Jared doing right now?”

“He’s with the ballroom
coach. She asked him to stay after and be the male dancer for a
high school team she teaches.”

“Aw, he must be good at
what he does then.”

“He always has been an
amazing dancer.”

“So let him do his thing,
and you come with us. Gretchen, Tracy, and Summer are all
going.”

I opened my book again. “I
don’t know.”


You need to get out of
these books. Now, go get ready.” Melissa stood and pulled my arm
up.

“OK, OK. I’ll
go.”

***

Walking into the dance
with my friends sent a whole new feeling through me. The music
pumping and the other students’ energy rejuvenated my outlook of
the night. This was my element.

“Go girl! I told you you
would have fun,” Melissa yelled over the DJ’s music.

I nodded at her and
continued dancing my heart out.

“I’m going to get a
drink,” I yelled.

They followed me to the
water fountain, agreeing they too were thirsty. I took my turn but
then waited. Where we stood was above the rest of the dancers.
Every corner of the floor was packed, even the spot we once stood.
I scanned the crowed, but stopped when I saw him. Max stood at the
far corner across from me, arms folded, glancing over the
crowd.

“Hey, Leah!” Melissa spun
me around. “What’s up? You look like you just saw a
ghost.”

I turned briefly to where
Max stood, but he had already vanished.

“I thought I saw
someone.”

“Let’s go hit the floor
again. Tracy said she’s going to get a big circle going so you can
show off in the middle.”

“Ha ha, very funny. I
won’t be doing that.” I followed her until my phone vibrated in my
pocket. “You go ahead. I’m going to step outside to take this
call.”

She waved me on while I
took my phone out to see Jared calling.

“Hi! Let me walk outside
so I can hear you better.” I went through the double doors and into
the night air. “OK, I’m good now. How was teaching for the
night?”

“It was actually pretty
fun. I may be helping out again next week. So where are you
anyway?”

“At the student center.
There’s a dance going on tonight, and Melissa convinced me to go.
She’s calling it girls night out.”

“Girls night out? Well,
knowing Melissa I better not get in the middle of that
one.”

“Smart man. But we’ll get
together tomorrow.”

“That sounds like a plan,
cutie. Call you then.”

“K, bye.”

I spun around to go back
into the dance while looking down at my phone to end the
call.

“Miss me?” a frightful
voice said.

I looked up instantly to
see my attacker. He grabbed me around the waist and threw me over
his shoulder. My phone dropped from my hand while I struggled. I
started to scream and kick, but in return he reached back and
pulled my hair so I had to look directly into his eyes.

“You scream again, you’ll
be dead!” He spoke in a stern and evil voice.

“Pick up her phone! Do I
have to tell you everything?” the attacker said to a skinny man
next him.

“But it’s
broken.”

“Pick it up!”

His lackey listened in a
hurry and caught up with us when we reached his SUV.

“Why are you doing this?”
I asked.

He ignored me. “Grab the
duct tape.”

“Yes, boss.”

With his large, cracked
hands, he put a thick chunk of tape over my mouth. I tried to
scream and get away, but his strength outweighed mine. I was like a
fly trying to fight a giant. He continued with my hands, wrapping
tightly halfway up my arms. My ankles were next, and he spared no
mercy. He had pure hatred in his brown eyes and dark circles that
indicated exhaustion. The dark night matched his clothes, his eyes,
and his whole being.

The attacker’s minion
opened the back door. Just before I was thrown in, I saw Max emerge
from the doors of the student center. I wiggled even harder and
screamed as much as the tape would allow. Max gave me hope, but
when the door shut behind me, and the vehicle started to move, my
confidence left.
Max didn’t get to me in
time
,
I
thought.

After a drive that seemed
like forever, we started to slow. A second later the door opened. A
hand ripped me out of the car and let me fall onto the
blacktop.

Another man stood over me.
“This is it? It looks human. No way this pretty little thing could
be it.”

“I’m sure. Now bring it
inside,” The attacker said.

Only holding the tape that
wrapped my hands, one of the men dragged me into the storage
garage. Dried tears and new tears covered my face. The bangs and
scrapes of my body along the ground was excruciating. When they
finally got me to the place they wanted, they sat me up on a hard,
simple chair. The whole floor was cement, and the walls were lined
with boxes. My pants were ripped and arms were bleeding.

There were about thirty
men circling the room, but the one in charge stood in the
center.

“Let me tell you a story,”
he began. “Over one hundred years ago, your kind destroyed my
family.” He paused for a minute. “Do you remember this story,
shifter?”

I shook my head from side
to side and mumbled through the tape. He stepped forward and ripped
the tape off my mouth.

“Ahhh!” The tape took the
first layer of skin with it. “I don’t know what you’re talking
about!” I cried out.

“Well, you would say that,
so let me continue so I can refresh your memory.” He circled around
me. “All these men you see are my family, and each one of these
people you hurt. A long time ago our family owned massive lands and
homes and had families. We were happy and prosperous, until your
ancestor had to destroy everything we had worked for. Every
generation has been watching your family to see who would be the
next demon. But what we’ve noticed is you are the only female born
since your ancestor. None of the males before you have ever shown
any shifting abilities.”

“Shifting? I don’t know
what that means!”

“Sure you don’t, and maybe
you haven’t shown any shifting abilities either, but we don’t know
what triggers it. Knowing you are the only female born in the last
hundred years is reason enough to suspect it’s you. What’s the
worst that could happen, anyway? We kill you and eliminate the
chance of another abomination destroying someone else’s
life.”

“I’m sorry about your
family, but I am not capable of what you say.”

My face stung, and my
shoulder and head throbbed when I hit the ground. He slapped me
hard and picked me up to place me back on the chair.

“Don’t tell me what you’re
capable of. Just like your ancestor you will kill. So many people
died that night. Blood covered everything, fire destroyed homes,
and they had to run from the only place they knew. Your family
stole what would have been ours today. I guess you can say I am
just repaying the debt.” He glared at me for a moment longer before
he wanted proof. “So show me. Shift into your monstrous form and
show me what the devil looks like. If I am going to kill you, I
want you to fight at your strongest.”

“I don’t know what you
mean.” I had no idea what this crazy man was talking about.
Certainly he had the wrong person. At this point I would have shown
him anything he wanted me to do. Some part of me wished I knew what
shifting was all about.

“Oh come on, there is no
need to be shy here.” He came to me and stroked my cheek,
continuing down my body.

I trembled in disgust. He
continued only to see me suffer. He moved to the top of my shirt
and grabbed ahold.

“Now, let’s shed these
cloths. When you shift, you won’t need them anyway.”

I sat there hurt and
exposed. My shirt hung from my shoulders. When he started at my
pants, everyone froze when the garage door concaved in the center.
Another blow hit again, making more bulges in the metal frame.
Everyone was on their feet, and even the man in charge turned away
from me to investigate.

“What is that?” men’s
voices were mumbling back and forth between the room. “Go check it
out.”

“No way!” another man
sounded.

Loud, crushing hits
crumbled the metal. No human being could be behind that door. At
first I thought a car ran into the door, but when it happened over
and over I was lost on ideas. I was grateful for the distraction,
even if it was just another thing going to kill me.

Growling and scratching
sounded around the room as the metal started to bend near the
corner of the door. A large, black animal tried to squeeze through
the hole, but vanished to do another hard hit.

“What is that?” the boss
said.

“I think we found your
shifter, boss,” one of the men said.

“That’s
impossible.”

At another moment, a
large, black wolf emerged from the door and landed in front of the
men. It roared at the top of its lungs. Boxes from the sides of the
walled shook and fell from the vibration. The men scrambled in
fear, leaving out the same hole the wolf came through. The only man
that stayed was the boss.

“I’m not scared of you!”
He pulled out his gun, but in the same moment the wolf snatched it
in his mouth and bit hard until it bent.

“Go ahead, kill me!” he
yelled at the wolf. “I will just come back for her and you after I
have my army ready. So you better kill me now, or you’ll be dead
next time.”

The wolf leaped forward,
swiping the boss’s chest to leave shallow, bloody scratches. He
circled around him to shove him hard to the ground toward the
gaping metal whole. The boss raised his head to see outside and
crawled out. The attacker was fearless, but he still wanted to
live.

The wolf sharply looked at
me. We were the only two left in the garage.

 

CHAPTER SEVEN

Being killed by a human is
one thing, but being mauled my razor-sharp teeth sent a different
fear entirely. I didn’t dare move, or look into his eyes. Looking
into the eyes of a wild animal only made the animal more vicious.
It’s all about who is the alpha, and at that moment I was not. Just
being still worked, as he swiftly turned and left.

I let out the breath of
air I didn’t knew I held and started using my teeth to work off the
tape that bound my wrist and arms. It took time, but eventually
with a few pulled-out arm hairs the tape went one loop
around.

“Leah!” Max said, rushing
to me.

The sudden noise startled
me. Max slowed, not wanting to further scare me.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to .
. . Leah, I’m sorry.” He finished his way to me. “I need to get you
to the hospital.”

“If we go to the hospital
they will just ask questions,” I whimpered. I knew he heard
me.

“That’s not important
anymore. My job is to protect you, and I failed. You need to be
checked by a doctor, and that’s what’s important.” He slowly moved
forward to kneel in front of me. “Now, let’s see about this
tape.”

The garage was not heated,
and now that the threat was behind me, my lack of clothes made me
quiver. He didn’t seem to notice, though. Instead, he looked
concerned and sad that he hadn’t prevented what
happened.

BOOK: Shaping Destiny
4.21Mb size Format: txt, pdf, ePub
ads

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