The Omega's Heart (Wilde Creek Four) (13 page)

“Mine!”

* * * * *

The hands tearing at Honey’s clothes were
rough. They gouged her skin with their nails. They leered at her as
they ripped the shirt away from her body, gripping her tender
flesh, squeezing and pinching, holding her bound wrists over her
head. She struggled, but couldn’t move much with the rope binding
her. She saw her father turn toward Jeremiah, and knew that he was
going to kill him.

She wanted to tell him that she was sorry
she’d gotten him into this, that the last two days with him had
been heaven, but when she opened her mouth, all that came from her
were pain-filled cries. The males began to tug on the knotted
string holding her sweats up, and she knew then that it wouldn’t
only be the older male who would take her tonight. He would let the
males with him have her, too.

Something snapped loudly, and the males
stilled and looked over their shoulders. Honey’s gaze swept the
area and landed on Jeremiah, who stood slowly from where he’d been
kneeling on the ground. His body looked different. Taller, bulkier.
Thick fur covered his arms, and his fingers were long and tipped
with claws. His face had changed the most, his dark hair replaced
by a mane of fur, his nose and mouth elongated into a wolfish
muzzle. He roared, and his razor-sharp teeth glinted in the
light.

“Mine!”

He howled the word gutturally. Honey shivered
at the possessive tone.

No one moved, and then Jeremiah grabbed her
father by the throat and threw him at the van. His body hit the
windshield, which shattered. Jeremiah moved so fast that he was a
furry, dark blur. The males who had been stripping her were ripped
from her, their arms dislocating as Jeremiah jerked them upright
viciously. He swung them around like ragdolls, letting them go so
their bodies arced into the air and then landed hard. Neither male
moved again.

The males from her old pack advanced on him
as a group. Honey scrambled to her knees and shouted for Jeremiah
to watch out, but he didn’t need her advice. He seemed to be
hyper-aware of their movements, missing their flying fists and
dodging their lunges. One of them brandished a knife.

He swung it at Jeremiah, who caught his wrist
in his exceptionally large hand and squeezed until the bones
shattered and he dropped the knife with a shrill scream. Jeremiah’s
hand wrapped around his throat and squeezed. Honey closed her eyes
as the sound of his choking filled the air. There was a crushing
sound and then nothing, except the dull thud as the body dropped to
the ground.

She curled her bound hands in front of her
body, tuning out the sound of Jeremiah’s rampage. Wiggling to her
feet, she hopped over to the van, where her father’s body lay half
in and half out of the windshield. She couldn’t see his injuries,
but she could smell the blood, and from the heavy amount she knew
he’d been gravely wounded, the glass in the windshield cutting him
severely.

“Did you kill Stacy?” she asked.

She saw the glint of her father’s eyes and
knew he saw her. He was alive, but too injured to shift and slowly
bleeding to death.

His mouth opened and nothing came out but a
garbled squeak at first. Then he finally hissed, “Yes.”

“She was your mom. How could you?”

He didn’t answer.

“Did she figure out you were trying to sell
me to another alpha?”

He grunted.

“If I’m not your daughter, why did you keep
me? Why not send me away?”

“Worth trade.”

Her stomach rolled. Her only value to him was
what he could trade her for. She replayed the conversation in her
mind she’d overheard before she ran away, and the word ‘pure’ which
had confused her. She looked over her shoulder to see Jeremiah
slamming the head of the other alpha into a tree with a sickening
crunch.

“He had a virgin pack member he was going to
give to you in exchange for me? You’re a sick fuck. I’m sorry I
ever called you dad.”

She leaned heavily against the van as fatigue
blanketed her. Even though her body temperature ran warm, she was
still half-naked in the snow, and she was starting to become
chilled.

“Hon-ey,” Jeremiah’s deep, growly voice spoke
disjointedly from behind her.

She looked over her shoulder and saw him
standing in the light. His shirt had been ripped off while he
fought, and she could see that his upper body was entirely covered
with gray fur. It reminded her of the old wolf-man horror movies,
where a man didn’t shift into a complete wolf but instead into a
fur-covered human. His broad chest heaved as he breathed hard.
Blood glinted on the fur on his chest and abdomen where he’d been
injured, and she was pretty sure he was even taller and more
muscular. His jeans were in tatters, too.

She looked at the man she’d called ‘dad’ her
whole life. His eyes were closed and she could hear him breathing
shallowly. They couldn’t drive the van with a half-dead male
hanging out of the windshield. She walked to the side of the van
and opened the door. She stepped up into it, leaning on the seat
with her shoulder. She scanned the interior and found what she was
looking for — a cell phone.

Taking it with her, she wiggled out of the
van and hopped her way over to Jeremiah. “I don’t know Acksel’s
number.”

She showed him the phone and he spoke the
number to her as she dialed. His voice was raspy and deep, and it
seemed like it took effort for him to form words. He reached out
and cut the rope binding her wrists and went to his knees, cutting
her ankles free as well. She connected the call and waited for
Acksel to answer. Jeremiah seemed to be waiting, sitting on his
knees in the snow, his hands on his thighs and his head down.

“Moore.”

“Alpha Acksel, it’s Honey Williams.”

“Where the fuck are you two? What happened?
Are you both all right?”

“I don’t know for sure, but I think we’re in
a town called Kenote. My former pack alpha tried to trade me to
another alpha. Jeremiah and I are okay.”

He muffled the phone as he talked to someone
else. She peered at Jeremiah. He looked like a statue, kneeling
perfectly still aside from his heaving chest. In the headlights she
could see that he really did have a mane of fur on his head, his
dark hair replaced by what looked like the gray fur of a wolf. His
ears were pointed and they twitched every now and then, as if
listening intently. The clawed hands had long fingers, almost like
an extra joint had been added, and judging from how tall he was
even kneeling, she knew he had definitely partially shifted. She’d
never seen anything like it.

“Can you get to a vehicle?” Acksel asked.

“Not really. We’re in the woods and there
are… a lot of dead wolves.”

“Fuck. Damn it.” He growled the words.

“I’ll find out where we are and send the
location to you,” she said.

“Do that. We’re on the way, but I have no
idea how long it will take to get there. Just stay out of sight and
wait for us.”

He ended the call, and she pulled the phone
away from her ear, switching to a map program. It pulled up their
location and she took a screen shot and texted the picture to
Acksel.

She put the phone in her pocket and looked
around. Dawn was still a few hours away. She counted the bodies,
finding all but one.

“Shred’s gone.”

Jeremiah shook his head. “Ran.”

She focused her hearing, and found silence.
The two of them were the only ones alive, and Shred was nowhere
nearby. The man she had called dad her whole life was motionless,
sprawled halfway in and out of the van. She didn’t feel any remorse
for him. Maybe because he’d never shown her any love growing up, or
because he’d tried to kill Jeremiah and trade her like a sack of
potatoes. His behavior growing up made sense now, because he hadn’t
been her father in the first place. She would never know who her
real father was, and had no memory of her mom. Dexter had stolen
every precious thing from her, and nearly took the only man in her
life who’d ever stood up for her.

She saw her top on the ground and she went to
it, picking up the shredded garment and shrugging into it. She had
to tie the torn pieces of the front together to cover her breasts,
but it was better than being half-naked. Moving back to her mate,
she went to her knees in front of Jeremiah. His eyes were bright,
golden and shining; she reached for him, and he pulled her into his
lap and curled his arms around her. The strength and warmth
emanating from him made the last bit of her defenses crumble. The
tears that had been held back by shock and fear now fell freely,
and she cried into his furry shoulder as he held her in the
snow.

She was aware of him moving them slowly away
from the headlights and into the darkness of the woods. He stopped
when they were blanketed in darkness and leaned back against a
tree, settling her in his lap.

“I won’t hurt you,” he spoke slowly in that
guttural tone.

She looked up at him. “I know you won’t.
You’re my mate and I’m yours and all we have in the world is each
other.” She pressed a kiss to his misshapen mouth and he growled
lightly, a happy tone.

“Mine. My Honey.”

Burrowing against him, she closed her eyes
and let the steady beat of his heart soothe her to sleep.

* * * * *

Jeremiah’s body felt strangely free. He’d
never shifted in such a bizarre way before. Even when he’d been
furious and the partial change happened, it didn’t happen quite
like this. He’d only ever grown claws and a light dusting of fur on
his arms and legs. This was a complete metamorphosis. He could feel
the strange shape of his mouth, and his eyesight and hearing were
sharper. Lifting one hand, he wiggled his extra-long fingers. His
wolf was content in his mind. He’d been able to protect himself and
Honey with the odds stacked against them. He felt stronger and more
powerful than he’d ever felt before, and even now, he felt amazing
because his mate was snuggled up in his lap asleep. He would have
understood if she’d been afraid of him, but she didn’t ask him to
try to change back to his completely human form or act as if she
was frightened. She was one amazing woman, and he was thankful to
have her in his life.

Closing his eyes, he rested his head back on
the thick tree trunk, but he didn’t sleep. His wolf was on high
alert. Even though they were away from the carnage the headlights
illuminated, one wolf had escaped, and although Jeremiah didn’t
sense anyone near them, he refused to leave her unprotected. He
wasn’t entirely sure he could make himself shift back right now,
even if he wanted to. For the moment, staying extra strong and
slightly terrifying-looking was the best thing.

Time passed slowly while he waited for his
pack. Honey slept soundly, snuggled against his chest, and he
nuzzled her from time to time and inhaled her sweet scent.
Eventually, after the sun had risen and bathed the woods in ambers
and oranges, he heard the sound of vehicles following the path that
the van had taken, and he recognized the SUVs from his pack.

Honey stirred as he nudged her awake and she
blinked up at him. “Are we home yet?”

“No my mate,” he spoke slowly, finding it
hard to speak clearly with his mouth elongated slightly like a
muzzle.

He stood fluidly with her in his arms and
trekked the short distance to meet his pack members.

Everyone froze when he came into view. He
grimaced internally. If his pack thought he was a freak of nature
before, what would they think now?

“Holy shit,” Acksel said.

Ren stared with wide eyes, his mouth opening
and closing like a fish.

“Damn, we’ve got our very own wolfman,” Dade
said, smiling broadly. Putting his hands on his hips, Dade glanced
around at the destruction and then met Jeremiah’s gaze. “Can you
shift back? I don’t think you’ll fit in the SUVs.”

Honey gripped his neck tighter and said,
“I’ll help him. Thank you for coming for us.”

Acksel said, “Zander will take you back to
town. We’ll take care of the cleanup here.”

Honey wiggled a bit in his arms and then
tossed the cell phone she’d used to Acksel, who caught it.

She nuzzled under his twitching ear and
whispered, “Can you shift back?”

“Don’t know,” he said truthfully.

“Take me back into the woods.”

He turned and carried her away, back to the
place where he’d held her for hours. He put her on her feet. She
glanced around and, finding them entirely alone, she slowly pulled
apart the torn pieces of her top. His eyes widened as heat blazed
through him at the sight of her beautiful breasts, nipples hard
from the cold.

“I love your hands and the way your lips feel
on me, Jeremiah,” she whispered, looking up at him coyly. “I know
you’d never hurt me with those sharp teeth and claws, but it’s time
to go home now.”

It took only a moment for Jeremiah to reach
out to his wolf, and then the change came over his body swiftly.
His joints cracked and popped, his muscles tightening and flexing
back into their original shape. The thick fur slid smoothly back to
firm skin. With normal hands, he reached for his mate and pulled
her close, her nipples brushing against his chest as he lowered his
mouth to hers. She melted against him with a sigh, and he smiled
inwardly. He had one amazing mate.

They separated after kissing thoroughly. She
tied the scraps of her top together again so her breasts were
covered, and they walked back to the pack. Zander was waiting by
his SUV. “There’s a blanket on the back seat, and you can have my
coat if you want, too, Honey.”

“I’ve got Jeremiah to keep me warm,” she
said, smiling up at him.

Jeremiah grinned like an idiot. He couldn’t
help it. Acksel called for him; he opened the back door of the SUV
and helped Honey in and then strode to his alpha.