Chance Lost (11 page)

Chapter 20

She watched him from under her lashes when he turned back to look at her. It made her heart flutter to see the love for her in his eyes. She was starting to fall for him too and it surprised her. She never thought she could feel this strongly for a man, but she did and she actually found that she liked it.

Chance waited until she heard the Harley start and move off into the distance. Once she knew Sylas was gone, she dressed readied herself quickly. This time she dressed in leathers. Her special boots and duster finished off the look. She quickly braided her mane, took one last glance in the mirror and pulled open the door to her bedroom. She didn’t see Jack anywhere so she quietly left the house. She waited to start the Jeep by letting it roll down the incline as far as she could before cranking it. She needed to go home alone and with Sylas gone, this would be her only time to do so.

An hour later and she was unlocking her front door. Chance walked out to her mailbox and grabbed her mail, checking it as she flipped on the lights. She remembered what Sylas said and made sure the front door was locked behind her. This needed to be a quickie and she wanted to get back before Jack woke up. After checking all the rooms, she sat down for a few minutes to pay bills and check her balances. When she found all in order, she moved to her bedroom and pulled out her suitcases. She filled them with everything she might need in the next few weeks, and filled an overnight backpack with her toiletries. When finished she moved all her bags to the front door.

Chance decided last minute that she should check the basement. She also wondered about Pretty Boy Sy; hoping he was being taken care of by a good family. She would miss that overly smart dog. All of this nonsense was making her miserable. One stupid pool game and her life changed. The only good part of that whole night was Sylas and Jack.
Well, fuck them and the tricycles they rode in on!
She walked downstairs and took out her frustrations on Bill, the robot. Chance was just about to throw a roundhouse kick at Bill’s head when she heard what sounded like a crash, then a quiet curse, and footsteps upstairs near her kitchen.

Chance ran to her light switch and turned it off. She had excellent night vision and could see almost as good in the dark as she could in the daylight. She didn’t know where it came from but she was grateful now. She shook her head at herself.
You should have listened to Sylas, dumb-ass. Now look at the mess you’re in.
Her heart was racing, not from fear, but from the excitement of a potential fight.
She would show them!

Chance slowly hugged the wall as she walked up the stairs. She knew every creak and avoided them all. She listened at the door and then bent down to look under it to see if she could tell where they were in the house. It sounded like they were looking in the front of the house and moving her way. She heard him curse again. He found her suitcases. Chance crouched, waiting for feet to appear near the door. When they did, she saw the handle turning and she quickened her breathing. Her adrenaline was at full peak.

As soon as the door opened, Chance shot up and punched him as hard as she could in the nads. He folded over when the unexpected punch registered. She used his forward momentum to pull him over her and down the stairs. He fell ungracefully to the bottom and she followed. The man was still doubled over, but she didn’t care. She pulled him up and squared him one right in the jaw with her fist. He fell back but not before throwing a punch back at her. Chance saw it coming and blocked it. The stranger seemed to come back to life and it was all out war. She was suddenly fighting for more than just anger over someone in her home; it was now her life on the line.

Before it was over, they had somehow moved the fight back up the stairs. Furniture was broken and glass went flying in her kitchen and living room. She finally got the upper hand and knocked him out cold. She was bruised everywhere and she was sporting several cuts. One nasty slice did worry her, since it was on the inside of her thigh, but she dismissed it. He was worse. She’d cut his cheek, arms and thighs with her boot knife. Chance was exhausted.

Chance looked over the man out cold on her kitchen floor. None of his wounds seemed to be life threatening, and she didn’t recognize him from the bar. She looked at his face, memorizing it. It was almost familiar. In another place and time, she might have found him handsome. Now though, all men paled to Sylas. He had a limp that was pronounced and it was the limp that gave her the upper edge. She’d concentrated most of her kicks to that gimpy leg and it took a toll.

Chance took all of her suitcases and bags out to her Jeep and left, making a quick decision to leave him lying on the floor. Yes, she should have killed the bastard, but today was not the day. It wasn’t  in her to take a life. She was sure that Sensei was disappointed in her, but she was gone now, and Chance was the one who would have to live with it. She made it about halfway back to Jack’s before she could drive no more. She found a motel and checked in, ignoring the stares from the desk clerk. Then she sent out text messages to Jack and Sylas. They were short and to the point.

“I’m okay. Went home. Biker broke in.

Big fight. I won. Can’t drive anymore.

Crashed at hotel off 400 in Alpharetta.

Don’t worry. Be home later. Chance.”

Chance stepped into her room, dropped her bags and headed for the shower to wash away all the blood. Most of it was his thankfully. At one point he pulled a knife and struck her twice with it. The cuts would have been to the bone if not for her leathers. One was on her inner thigh and the other across her abdomen, with the latter being more a scratch than anything else. It was the one on her thigh that worried her. It had not stopped bleeding yet. The rest of her cuts and scrapes were from punches and flying glass. She got out of the shower and tied a towel around her leg. She didn’t have a belt, so this would have to do for now.

Chance avoided looking in a mirror. She didn’t want to see what she could feel. Cut and bruised cheekbone and her right eye swelling shut.

It seemed she was asleep only a few minutes when a loud banging started at her door. Chance frowned in her sleep. “Damn it, Chance, open this door right now before I break it down!” Sylas suddenly registered in her head, but she was too dizzy to get up.

“Sylas…can’t get up. Get manager, please,” she managed to croak out. Chance didn’t remember passing out again, but must have since she woke up much later under a different blanket. She cracked open her good eye and saw Sylas sitting next to her and Jack pacing the floor.

“What… what are you doing here, Sylas? How did you get back so fast?”

They both suddenly turned to her and she flinched- hard. Jack had both a look of worry and relief written all over his face and Sylas’ was pure anger. Sylas must have seen the flinch because his gaze softened but only a little.

“Baby, you scared the fuck out of me. What the hell were you thinking?”

“I wanted to go home and get my things, Sylas. I needed to do this on my own. And you didn’t answer my question.” Chance winced as she sat up.

“Jack saw you leave and tried to follow you, but he didn’t know exactly where you were going. He sent me a text and I told him where your house was. By the time he got there, you were gone and so was the biker. I think you owe Jack some of his years back, because when he saw your house, he lost a couple. We were lucky to get to you on time, Chance. You’ve lost quite a bit of blood.

“I’m so sorry, Jack. I really thought I would be okay. Forgive me?”

Jack walked over and sat down on the other side of the bed. He took her hand and pressed it gently to his lips, avoiding her wounds. “Chance, I’ve come to think of you as a sister. When you took off without saying anything, it hurt to my core. All you needed to do was ask and I would’ve gone with you. Not as a protector, but as a friend who cares, understand?”

Chance felt hot tears run down her cheeks. She hadn’t meant to hurt him or Sylas. She whispered between the hitches in her breath. “Please, I never meant to hurt either of you. This is all so new to me. I’ve never had anyone other than my Sensei and my friend from work, Gus, give two shits about me. I grew up without a family and no real home. I was moved constantly from place to place and the families I lived with treated me like shit. I was beaten all the time by different people who tried to take advantage of me.”

Chance was sobbing now and it was hard to speak. Sylas started to say something, but she stopped him with a look. “I have to get this out or I’ll never be able to. I have been on my own since I was sixteen. I emancipated myself from the system and never looked back. I finished high school, worked and paid my own way from then on. I don’t know what it is to have friends. I’ve never had anyone love me or who cared other than Gus and Sensei.”

Chance looked back and forth between them. Finally finished she croaked out, “Please don’t hate me, but I will understand if you do.” She closed her eyes and started to curl in on herself; afraid they would leave her.

Sylas pulled her gently up into his arms. “No one hates you, Chance and neither of us are leaving you. You will never be alone again. You have our word on it.”

Chance heard an affirmation from Jack. Sylas talked low into her ear “I love you, Chance Cadens. I knew there was pain in your eyes, but I had no idea it was this bad for you. I wish you felt enough trust to talk to me about it. I can understand needing your independence. Please indulge my compulsion to keep you safe until these bikers have been taken care of. Will you let me do that?” She answered him with a nod. It hurt too much to hug him right now.

Jack spoke up finally. “From the looks of things at your house, the biker got the worst end of the deal. When you’ve had time to rest and recover, can you describe him to us?” She nodded and started to speak, but he cut her off.

“Not now, Chance. We have plenty of time. We need to get you home so I can stitch up that leg wound. It’s been a while since I got to play doctor, and this time Sylas will have to put up with it.” Jack smiled at her and winked.

Sylas picked her up and carried her out to the Jeep. He gently put her down in the front seat and then let the seat back a little. He drove her back to Jack’s place holding her hand the entire way, with Jack following on his Harley. It never occurred to her to ask Sylas where his bike was… she was just happy to have him back.

Chapter 21

Trey was hanging on by a thread and he knew it. For the second time in his life, he was afraid of dying. There were more than enough reasons to know this woman was the Chance he was looking for. The second it registered that he was under attack, all sanity left him. She fought like a demon possessed and he understood it. When he broke in, he was hoping to catch the person unaware, but it backfired when no one was upstairs. He hadn’t expected to be attacked before getting the basement door all the way open and that was his first mistake.

He saw her arrive from an upstairs window when she pulled into the driveway.  He left the house and observed her from outside as she moved through her house. Her beauty floored him and found himself lost to it.

The Alpha inside him insisted that he claim her for his own. If he weren’t so distracted by the pain of wanting to take her, he would have been more on guard. He still wanted her; the hellcat in her be damned, he would have her and she almost killed him. He was positive when he collapsed she would kill him. He saw her beautiful face through his glazed eyes and she didn’t look at him with fear or anger, no; it was curiosity and maybe a bit of guilt.

He hadn’t intended to harm her, but she would have killed him if he didn’t fight back. The instinct to protect his body took over and she gave him the fight of a lifetime. That solitary fact made him want her even more. She was Alpha material all rolled into one sexy female. How she was human was beyond him. He noticed she was able to fight him in the dark and only immortals could do that. He was betting even the bastard Sylas was unaware of it. Craven could go to hell if he thought he was going to touch this woman, much less get near her.

The thought of Craven pulled him out of his reverie. He sent a short text; one that would keep him at a distance while Trey figured this out. “Have a lead. Following up. Will contact soon with details. Trey.” Having done that, Trey shifted. It was the only way he could heal enough to get to the female, before he lost his opportunity.

* * * *

Craven snorted when the text from Trey came in. He was already aware of what happened. He couldn’t stay Alpha by trusting anyone. He put a tracking device on Treys phone and when it showed him stationary for several days, he sent another of the pack to watch him. So the bitch bested him. Craven laughed. She definitely showed promise. He looked forward to breaking the bitch and now he would make sure Trey watched while he did it. Trey was not aware he’d given himself away. In his delirium, he professed his love for her; it was loud enough to be overheard. In fact, this other pack member heard more… a lot more.

So his Beta had his own agenda. Craven was not surprised. He would have been shocked if he hadn’t wanted to take over the pack. They were a pack of rogues, it was a given. Constant infighting was another. He was always looking over his shoulder for the next attack from one of his own. Lately there hadn’t been any and now he knew why. His pack was expecting Trey to do it and they were waiting on him to make the next move. There was a surprise in store for all of them. When Trey came home, with or without the bitch, he would take him down. He had no intentions of killing him yet, though. He planned on making sure he lived to watch the female die first… then it would be Trey’s turn. He would kill them both in front of the entire pack.

Craven was no longer worried about finding the female now. The tracker contacted him. He finished with his job in Canada and was, at this very minute, on a flight here. He would get her first and then call his Beta home. Two birds, one stone. Craven rubbed his hands together at the thought he would soon have the bitch and his betrayer back here where he would take care of them both.
Yes, this day just got a whole lot better.

* * * *

Sylas paced the floor while Jack stitched up Chance’s leg wound.
Damn her!
He’d asked her for one thing and she went behind his back to do it anyway. Fuck, he and Jack both asked her to stay here at the house. She needed her independence and he accepted it. She wasn’t his prisoner by any means. It was the sneaky way she went around him that bothered him. He would forgive her though; hell, he already had. He loved her too much to let this come between them. Besides, he was sure she learned a lesson and was sure she wouldn’t do it again.

Sylas thought back to her revelation. Now it was all out in the open and his heart ached for her. No wonder she flinched on occasion. She only knew pain from the previous men around her. Love was a foreign concept to her mind. She wasn’t even aware of doing it half the time. A raised voice or hand and she would unconsciously cringe. Sylas groaned with the pain he knew was in her heart. He needed to prove to her that love was all she needed in her heart and mind.

“Sylas, if you keep pacing like that I’ll never get this finished. She can’t stay still because you can’t,” Jack growled at him while trying to place another stitch.

Sylas looked over at her and saw the blush creep up her beautiful, but wounded face. He stopped his pacing and moved to the bed. He took her hand and held it and felt her squeeze it every time Jack broke the skin with his needle. She still amazed him. She’d not made a single sound through this whole repair job on her leg. How many people could stay silent without complaint? Not very many, he was sure of it. He kept her focused with his unerring gaze.

“Done, and I expect you to stay put and not rip these out, Chance. Let me wrap this and then I will go fix dinner. I’m sure you’re starving, hell, I know I am.” Jack ran his fingers through his hair in a gesture of pent up frustration.

“No more sneaking around, Chance. If you do, I won’t stop Sy from taking you over a much deserved knee!” After he got her reassurance that she would behave and her leg was properly dressed, Jack left them alone.

Sylas was too emotionally drained to talk. He just held her gaze and she let him, not up to talking either. Gently he sat her up and smoothed out her pillows and then helped her to lie down again. He joined her and she curled into him, still staring up into his eyes. She reached out and ran her fingers through his hair and it suddenly felt like mountains had fallen off his shoulders. Sylas watched as she yawned and felt the familiarity of her hand over his heart. She fell asleep and he was once again grateful that Chance was still in his life.

It was so close, too close. If they hadn’t arrived when they did, she might have bled out. An artery in her thigh had been almost severed. It was a small prick, but enough to cause a near bleed out. Jack quickly set up a triage and pulled a Macgyver out of his ass and gave her some of Sylas’ blood. Being immortal, their blood could mix with any human type. He still was not sure what the side effects would be. This was a first for both of them, but at least Jack knew what to do. They might both be experienced medics, but Sylas was too distraught to be of any assistance. Sylas would be forever in Jack’s debt. He had saved Chance’s life with his quick thinking and it was done while she was passed out, none the wiser.

Sylas didn’t want any more secrets with her. He wanted desperately to tell Chance everything, but vows and his purpose kept him silent. Only when absolutely sure, could he explain things. He never wanted to know this feeling again. To see the woman he loved on the edge of death, well, it gave him a blow he was not prepared for.

Jack finally came back in with some chicken broth in a cup. Sylas gently woke Chance up and she managed to swallow most of it before passing out again. Jack waited to see if she would take more before leaving again. Before he got away, Sylas thanked him again. “I owe you one, Bro. She’s everything to me.”

“No, Sy, I still owe you. You’ve saved my ass more than once. Besides, this one’s on me. I let her get away before I knew what she was doing. I promised you and I failed you both. Besides, I’d have done it any way. She’s brought you a peace I thought I would never see in you. She really is like the sister I lost all those years ago; she means all that and more. Be good to her Sylas, or I might have to kick your ass. She deserves much better than she’s gotten.”

Jack left the room to finish cooking their dinner. He came back later with plate of food, knowing that until Sylas knew for sure Chance was going to be okay, he was not leaving her side again.