Running in Fear Escaped
Read Running in Fear Escaped Online
Authors: Trinity Blacio
Escaped
A Ravenous Romance™ Original Publication
A Ravenous Romance™ Original Publication
Copyright © 2010 by Trinity Blacio
Ravenous Romance
100 Cummings Center
Suite 125G
Beverly, MA 01915
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in whole or in part without written permission from the publisher, except by reviewers who may quote brief excerpts in connection with a review.
ISBN-13: 978-1-60777-355-9
This book is a work of fiction, and any resemblance to persons living or dead is purely coincidental.
Dane Glassgo stood in all his glory, scanning the surrounding area for any threat to his mate. His thick black fur blew in the cold wind. The Alpha in him never let his gaze travel far from the small cabin in the valley. All of his thoughts lingered on the woman within. Tonight, he would claim her. Impatience had marked each day of the past eight weeks, but finally the time had come. She was now in his domain, and he wouldn't let her leave.
Funny, to think a chance visit to his little sister, Shelly, had yielded this all-consuming obsession. From the first moment her scent of roses and cream had wafted toward him, the wolf inside him had clawed to escape. It was more than just her natural perfume that excited him. Her pheromones drove him to the brink of madness. And yet he hadn't even seen her face to face. The mere vestiges of her scent were enough for him to know this was the woman who would be his mate.
He'd tried to forget about it and take other females afterwards, but that hadn't worked. Every time an opportunity to couple with another female presented itself, his stomach flipped in rebellion. Even Blair, his live-in play toy of the past several years, had lost her appeal. Dane finally understood that this female was his and only his.
He still couldn't believe she was finally here, alive and well.
“This damned well better be an emergency or I swear I will tear this person apart!” Dane growled as he rolled over and answered the phone. “What?”
“Dane.” his little sister Shelly whispered into the phone.
Suddenly wide awake, Dane threw his feet
over the bed, and his hand gripped the phone tightly. “What's happened, Shelly? Is Jaycee okay?” The sound of a doctor's page in the background could be heard. “SHELLY, WHO IS IN THE HOSPITAL?” Dane growled. His hand began to cover itself in black fur, and his face started to transform.
“Jaycee. He beat her up, Dane. Oh my God, you should see her! I can't even recognize her face! They don't know if she'll make it, Dane. There are machines everywhere, and they're taking her down for surgery now.” Shelly sobbed into the phone.
“I'll be there in one hour!” He dropped the receiver, grabbed his clothes, and dashed for the bedroom door. Dane tried to push the beast back, but it threatened to take hold of him any moment.
An hour later, the door whooshed opened as Dane entered into the hospital, his family right behind him. Both his parents and his brother had insisted they drive him, knowing he would destroy his own car trying to get here. Dane scanned the hallway, and people skirted away from him as he made his way to the elevator.
“Dane you need to stop. You're scaring everyone in this place.” His mother tried to grab onto his hand, but he wouldn't have it. He pushed the elevator button and looked down at her. “I'm going to kill him, mother. If that piece of shit ever gets out of jail, he will be dinner.” His teeth started to change, but he pushed his beast back again as the elevator door opened and people walked around him to get out of his way.
“Dane, calm down. Your eyes are red,” his father ordered as he stepped into the elevator next to Mark, his younger brother.
Dane closed his eyes, pulling the beast back. He finally opened them when the elevator hit the fifth floor: Intensive Care. The door slowly opened, and, waiting near the nurse's desk, he saw his sister, her face swollen from crying. She ran into his arms.
“She just came out of surgery. They had to put two pins in each of her legs, her jaw is wired shut and you can't see her eyes. He broke each eye socket. The doctor's said it's a waiting game now. If she lasts the night and doesn't contract pneumonia, she'll survive.”
Machines beeped as he stepped into Jaycee's room. Her scent mingled with the stench of alcohol and blood. As he approached the bed, Dane reeled. Her face was covered in bandages, and her legs were strapped into temporary casts. A police officer who'd been sitting in her room glanced up at him.
Shelly nodded to him. “Officer Charles, this is my brother, Dane. He's the one I told you about.”
Dane recognized the officer as he, one of his own. The man stood and sniffed the air, then lowered his head in respect. “I'll leave you, but if you need anything, Alpha, please don't hesitate to ask. I should tell you the bastard that did this is now sitting in jail, but we have no idea where his goons are. She'll have twenty-four hour protection until she is released.”
Dane studied the man, then nodded, “Thank you. I'll stay here until she awakens. I'll also have others from my team watching her. I'd appreciate any updates afterwards. I don't want her to know I was here.” As he moved further into the room, claws sprouted out of his hands, fur broke through his skin and his muzzle started to grow. “I have to leave for a moment. Stay with her!” he ordered and dashed out of the room, heading straight for the stairs as his beast roared to escape.
The exit sign was only a few feet away. The park… he had to get to the park. Glancing around outside, he could see the entrance to the park. His feet ripped out of his tennis shoes, and his jeans tore at the seams as he entered the dark park. Dane stopped and tore off the rest of his clothes. The beast broke free, and the howl that had been bursting to come out finally rent through the night air, stilling every animal around. Tears fell, soaking his fur.
Suddenly he felt his mother's gentle hands stroking him. “I don't know why humans do this to each other, Dane. We will all have to be strong for her and stand beside her now. Just know that Shelly, your father and I will be with her non-stop until she is released and comes to the cabins. Now come, be with her while you can.” His mom rose and held out new clothes and shoes for him. The beast retreated, but kept a silent vow of death.
Dane's heart surged with a sense of protectiveness as the memory faded. He shook his head and glanced down at the cabin once more. He couldn't believe the anger that had triggered such an uncontrollable period in his life. He'd never had he been able to completely control his beast, but on that day in the hospital, nothing could stop him changing. The strength it took for him to control himself and wait for the right time to avenge his mate's pain and suffering had amazed even his parents.
Standing behind the scenes, he had made sure she wanted for nothing while she recuperated at the family's cabin. He'd protected her from her so-called husband and made sure he didn't get out of jail, until now.
Heavy flakes of snow blew across his field of vision. He shook his head and waited for his sister's appearance in the window. That would be the signal that she'd told Jaycee about their family. He would take care of everything from there. The time was close; his shaft grew hard, waiting for its new home in her wet folds. His sensitive ears picked up the conversation that had suddenly turned to yelling. He whipped his head around again to the cabin and saw his sister in the window.
Dane's howl carried to the lodge by the winds; as he made his way down to the cabin, the wolf in him stalked its mate.
* * * *
Jaycee gazed into the flames of the stone wall fireplace with a new sense of self.
I did it! Now, Jaycee Janco is free
.
That is, Jaycee Manz is free, and James is tucked away in a prison cell never to hit, rape or torture me again.
She pulled her knees up to her chest and covered them with her t-shirt. Her head rested on her knees, the muscles in her legs still weak and stiff from disuse. Her casts had been removed one week ago.
The lone cry of a wolf in the distance reached her ears. The sound was so beautiful and mournful in the night. She always loved wolves and felt at peace with them. A memory of her collection of wolf figurines flashed through her mind; she'd collected them all her life. Thanks to that asshole James, they now lay shattered in a million pieces in the trash.
“Hey, Jaycee, do you want a glass of wine?” Shelly asked from the kitchen.
Bad memories clouded her vision, and she shook her head in an attempt to dislodge them. She smiled, “Sure. Hey, thanks again for letting me come up here with you and your family.” Jaycee took the glass of wine from her and sipped it. Shelly sat down on the other end of the sofa.
“You know you're family to us. Mom and dad wouldn't have it any other way. I should warn you, though: we have this cabin to ourselves now, but my brothers will be around soon, coming in and out.” She gestured outside and rolled her eyes.
Jaycee laughed at her friend's annoyance. She'd always wished for bothersome brothers. Maybe then she wouldn't have fallen for James's tricks. “I'm surprised I haven't met them sooner, with me staying at your apartment these last eight weeks.”
“Well, there's something you need to know…” Shelly squirmed and looked out the window. “I tried to tell you before we left, but I was a little nervous. You see, my brothers, our family, well… we're not exactly normal. You know those wolves you heard earlier?”
Jaycee watched her friend walk to the window and look out, pausing in frustration.
“Those were my brothers you heard,” she blurted, glancing over her shoulder.
“What? Shelly, you're making me nervous here.” Jaycee got up to confront to her friend, but then she suddenly heard a crack and watched as Shelly's green eyes stared at her while her body turned to match that of a gray wolf.
Jaycee gazed down at the wolf. It'd been so long since she'd been around her own kind that she stood in awe for a moment before she realized she was supposed to look shocked. Her own kind. She was with werewolves again. Her father was one, but only she knew of this fact. Afraid to disclose too much of her past, she played the role of someone shocked.
Jaycee watched her friend shift back to human, her muscles cracking and the hair retreating from her skin. She walked back to the couch and sat down, looking for all the world like a normal human.
“I know I should have told you before, but with everything going on in your life, I just didn't want to see you more upset.” Her shaking hand grabbed the robe off the back of the couch and pulled it around her body. “One of the reasons we wanted you here is so we can protect you. I didn't want you to know until we got up here, but I got a call from the prosecutor. The authorities have to release James.”
“They're what?” All the relief of being around her own kind disappeared, and a knot formed in her stomach.
“Not enough evidence.” Shelly grabbed her friend around the waist, before she could bolt off the couch. She held onto her while she continued, “The prosecutor said they wouldn't release him until tomorrow.”
“I can't believe this. Just when I was getting my life back together! You didn't even want to come up here this month!” She gazed at her best friend.
This time she did jump up. She paced back and forth as her hands gestured in fury. “God, and that's the only reason you brought me up here and told me your secret! I can't believe this. I feel so stupid! Your family shouldn't have brought me out here. You know he has friends. Even if you're wolves, that won't stop the guns, Shelly!” She fell back down on the couch.
“What the hell is going on in here?” A deep, penetrating voice rode up her spine. Her nipples hardened and wetness like she had never known soaked her thong. Jaycee turned her head to stare at the man just inside the door. His muscular arms were crossed against a powerful bare chest, and black leather pants hugged well-developed legs.
Here stood the boy from her childhood, her mate, but he wasn't a boy any more.
“Dane, don't you ever knock?” Shelly jumped up. Both women stared at her brother. “Jaycee, this is my oldest brother and pack leader, Dane. He's a pain in the ass, but he's harmless.” Her friend walked over to the man of her dreams and hugged him.
Jaycee's mind reeled. So her best friend was sister to her mate, the man her father had promised her to when she was a child. Did he know she was that same girl? The once-shy girl who'd sat in her father's car and spied on him while he jumped the bones of another woman? God, she'd cried herself to sleep that night. And now he was risking his life for her. She couldn't allow it.
“I want to borrow your car, Shelly. If I can drive up to Maine before James is released, I can go to the mountains.” Before Shelly or Dane could argue, she rushed on. “You know I can survive up there. Plus, I have some money tucked away up there in a bank under a different name. I can dye my hair and cut it. James wouldn't believe I'm capable of that.” Jaycee walked into the bedroom. She threw her suitcase on the bed, and a shadow framed the doorway. Glancing up, she saw that Dane stood there, Alpha power radiating off of him.
“What do you think you are doing?” Dane asked. She watched him close the bedroom door behind him, locking it.
“I'm packing. Didn't you hear me, wolf boy? I have to get out of here. I won't get anyone hurt because those bureaucratic assholes screwed up.” After that snappy reply, she walked into the bathroom and gathered her stuff. Large hands settled on the curve of her hips and held her in place.
He pressed his body to hers and snarled. “Are you questioning my ability to protect you?” He sniffed her fragrant hair, and then followed the sweet scent to the curve of her neck. “I have taken care of this pack and family for the past ten years. I was a Navy Seal for six years.” Hands traced around to the front of her and pulled her back to his body. “My unit is here now for our annual pack meeting. You couldn't be any safer,” he stated, and her body trembled under his roaming hands.
“I've taken care of myself now for some time. I don't nee…” She turned her body around, only to stare back into the big black eyes that bore down into hers her words disappeared in a flash. He was six-foot-five, if not taller, his long black hair pulled back into a braid. She couldn't love him – she'd just met him – but his scent, or whatever it was, attacked her hormones. Jaycee inhaled deeply. Her legs shook as he held tightly onto her.
“Do you feel it, the pull? Your scent drives me crazy, too,” he whispered into her ear.
Her eyelids slid down, shutting out the entire world, except for the sensual stirrings he caused. Only one other time had he done this to her, and he wasn't even aware of it.