Wolf's Promise (Caedmon Wolves) (4 page)

“Where are you taking me?” Nick barked, not caring about the consequences.

“Isn’t it obvious?”
a wolf named Jonathan answered. “I’m sure you’re aware of the punishment for trespassing.”

Nick was well aware. In Caedmon culture, they’d hold anyone
as
prisoner w
ho trespassed on marked territories without permission
.
Especially if they were up to no good.

“Last I checked, these lands belonged to
Devin Caedmon
.”

J
onathan laughed. “Are you sure?
”

“
It’s a known fact according to the will of his father.
”

“Not all
forty thousand acres were deeded to the
late
Daniel Caedmon.”

Nick frown
ed.
It
was just like Darius to pull
something
up
—anything—to hold against Devin.

They passed a hill several yards before reaching the mountains up ahead.  Nick
was then pulled toward an old dilapidated outhouse.

Jonathan pounded on the door
, and someone snatched it open
.

They shoved Nick
inside
and on instinct he landed on his elbows to prevent falling face first into the dirt
.
He held back a curse as his skin scrapped against the rough ground.
Bracing himself on his knees, he came to a standing position once a
gain. When he looked up
to face his opponent
,
he discovered there were several more of them waiting
in the interior.
Like vultures.

He noticed Darius right away as he approached.

“
Look whose come to visit.
”

Nick said nothing. One thing was
certain; he was pissed as fuck
. If he wasn’t so curious about what type of shop Darius had set up here
,
he’d have put up a fight long ago.

“Good job, boys,” Darius drawled. “Yo
u brought me nice bait once again
.”

Bait?

“What are you doing around my parts, Nick?”
Darius circled him. “Certainly, you’re not
here in search of what you lost
so many years ago.”

Nick growled. Why couldn’t Darius let that rest
?
“
I was m
inding my own damn
business.
Is this what you’re up to these days? Rounding people up like criminals.”

“M
y terri
tory…my rules.
”

“Since when did these become your territories?”

Darius laughed. “I’m just claiming my half of the forty K acres. It’s only fair that I bring up my father’s will since Devin has brought up his. He didn’t think he had rights to it all, did he?”

“You’re supposed to be gone. You were banished.”

“I’m not
that
easy to get rid of.
Did you think I would run off like a screaming baby
like
that brat you call a leader did?” Darius spat on the ground. “
Depriving me of something I own
,
and then covering it up
is a shady move. I didn’t know Devin had it in him.”

“I know nothing about what you speak.”

“What a liar!
You’re his advisor. How could you not know anything?”

Nick frowned. “If I did, I wouldn’t tell you jack shit.”

Jonathan tugged hard against the chain
that around Nick’s
waist
, and he
nearly upchucked his lunch.

“We’ll see if Devin cares when you come up missing,” Darius sneered.
“Chances are he doesn’t give a shit. All he cares about now is fucking a human whore.”

“
You want to play dirty?
”

“
Dirty? Seems fair to me. I hold you as bait and bastard boy comes running.
I’m not sure what you’re worth dead or alive, but I don’t plan to hand over my share of the wealth so that he c
an lay claim to it all
.”

“You want land?” Nick asked.

“My half as deeded to
my late father
.”
Darius smiled.
“And the title I was deprived of.”

“And if Devin disagrees?”

“I’ll behead you
.”

Nick hoped Devin never agreed. Darius
should have been
slayed on the night of the Blue
Moon.

“What ever happened to fair fight around here?” Nick challenged.

“Blood thirsty?”

Nick nodded at Jonathan. “I’d like to start with him.”

Jonathan snarled then looked to his leader.

“You don’t call any shots,” Darius snapped.

“Come on now,” Nick taunted. “It’s either now or later.
Because when I break loose
, I’ll have your punk ass servant
bitch
boys wishing they had never captured me.”

Nick braced himself as Jonathan lashed out, jerking the chains against him.
The blood raged under his skin, and the wolf inside him sought to be unleashed.

“Into the cell.” Darius jerked a finger behind him. “Down below. When you are done locking him in, bring me the key.”

His boys
acted quickly, pushing him down toward a door in the floor and down a set of stairs. There was a holding cell off to the side, complete with metal bars and a lock.
After stripping the chains off him, they shoved him
inside and secured it with deadbolts
.

“How could you fall for Darius’s tactics?” he asked
them
.

Their only answer was
a door slammed shut
.

“Idiots,” he mumbled.

***

Selene sc
r
ambled into position at the sound of
heavy footsteps a
pproaching. Her heart beat wild
ly, as if it would burst through her breastbone at any minute. A sharp pain shot up from her fist through to her arms and she realized that she clutched at the broken glass t
o
o tig
htly. It was not her blood that
she wanted to shed tonight.

Just as the door
swung open, she drew her legs up toward her body.

Scarface came into view.
He shed his trench coat and removed two chains from around his neck and hung both on a hook beside the door.

She held her breath as he came and stood next to the bedside, eyeing her like an owl. The stare left her feeling sick to the stomach.

“The maid said you refused food.”

“I don’t want any.”

Scarface shrugged. “Fine with me. But you’ll become hungry sooner or later.”

“I’ll die before I eat anything you offer,” she said, forcefully.

“That won’t do, doll.” He fumbled with the chain around his jeans and
it
fell to the floorboards about his feet. “Not if you plan to deliver what you owe me.”

Selene bit her lip. “Please
don’t
. Darius…”

He seemed shocked at the mention of his name.

“The
re are other ways to get a baby
. There are clinics in almost
every state
where women sign up to be surrogates every month.”

His forehead creased in anger. “Are you trying to tell me how to go about my business?”

She swallowed. “I just…I don’t want to do this.”

“If you want to live, you
will
do this
.”

“Why me?”

“I
told you
already
. You’re of good breeding age, and strong enough to do
so
. You survived a car cra
sh like that;
you will survive delivering my pups.”

“Pups?” Who referred to their babies as pups? It proved that this man was a psychopath.

He reached out and slid a stiff finger
up
her calf, and she cringed.

“I will be quick.”
His hand came to rest on her abdomen. “Still not healed comple
tely from the accident, I see.” He
tore his shirt
over his head, and tossed it over
the footboard. His chest was extremely hairy, but underneath all the fuzziness there was no doubt that he was a strong man.
And determined to get what he wanted no matter how much it would hurt her or how wrong it was.

Selene
tore her gaze away
as
he unzipped his jeans. She didn’t want to do this. She didn’t want
to murder a full grown man. But
she had to do something if she was going to escape this
horrible
fate alive or dead.

His hands worked the knot of the rope around her ankles and he pulled those off
too
. “Just give me nine mo
nths..
.”

“You’re a sick bastard.” Her voice quivered as she spoke.

“Bastard?” Blood shot red eyes bore into her. He grabbed hold of the front of the gown
and ripped
it, baring her naked flesh.

Selene shrieked
, and brought her legs up
toward her chest
aga
in
. She perspired from fear and her bra and panties clung to her like a second skin. Her blood was heated, but she shivered like a scared school girl.

Scarface reached behind her and snatched the rope off her wrists. It gave way easier than the ones that bound her feet. He took no notice as he climbed on the bed
,
kneeling
over her.

“Lie down.”

There was a nasty grin plastered on his lips as she sl
id down
.
She hadn’t noticed it before, but there were long fang-like tooth
stickin
g out on either side of his mouth
. S
omething like an animal would have. They were pointed and curved inward a bit, and looked sha
rp at the tip.

She squeezed her eyes shut just as
he reached into his waistband
.

“Open your legs. Haven’t you done this before?”

She shook her head, still averting her gaze away from his body.

“Don’t lie to me, you fucking bitch. Spread your l
egs before I do it for you
.”

She forced her legs open slowly. “Don’t make me do this.”

“
I
like the way you resist me.” He chuckled. “Are all human females like this?”

As he came down over her, she said, “I am so sorry…”

He grabbed at her thighs and took hold of her cotton panties. “Oh? Now you wa
nt to apologize. Have you c
hange
d
your mind
, you little slut
?”

She felt something heavy against the inside of her thighs. Raising the broken glass over them, she squeezed hard, breaking
through
her own skin. She took a deep breath and thrust the
sharp end of the glass
straight
into his neck.

Scarface hollered
like an animal
and scrambled off the bed, clutching his neck. The piece of glass was still lodged in his throat and when he pulled it out
,
blood spewed everywhere.

“Oh, God.”
Her breath rushed out of her.

“I’m going to kill you!” He rushed for her.
His penis
lay
flaccid between his legs.

She screamed at the top her lungs, and ran across the other end of the room.

A maid and another man rushed through the door.

“Sir, what’s happened?” the maid asked.

“She stabbed me!”
Scarface pointed in her direction. “
Chain her
.”

They ran to subdue her, but this time she wasn’t passed out. She was wide awake, and she would not make it easy for them. She kicked and screamed as they tackled her.

“Where do you want her?” the man he
aved her over his shoulder.

“Let me go!”
She beat at his back.
Certainly someone wou
ld hear her and come to help
. But she was out in the middle of nowhere…how would anyone hear her?