AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I swallow hard, praying my insatiable lust for Maxim hasn’t put his life in further danger even as I swear to all the gods in the heavens that I won’t touch him again until he’s fully healed. Just let him live, let us get out of here, and I’ll go back to my celibate ways for as long as it takes.
“You can’t do that!” the man shouts from his window as it apparently becomes clear what I intend to do with this bulldozer. “Stop! Stop it! I’ll sue!”
If only getting sued were the worst thing I had to worry about.
Instead, I’m terrified I’m going to be too late. Or maybe even too soon. What if I crash into the hotel room a few seconds too early and cut Maxim in half with the claw instead of Bane?
The thought zips through my head and I mentally cry out, Maxim, I’m coming in. Watch out!
I doubt he’ll be able to hear me. Since my pack gift came online, I’ve been able to hear other wolves in my mind at times, but so far, I haven’t had any luck talking back.
But I have to try.
If I accidentally kill him, at least I’ll know I did everything possible to keep him out of harm’s way.
The door, Maxim. Push him in front of it! As high in the air as you can!
Breath held and my heart slamming in my chest, I burst through the door and part of the wall, pieces of the ceiling crumbling into my hair as the bulldozer slams into something soft, but heavy on the other side. A strangled howl echoes through the night, followed by horrible guttural whimpers, but there’s too much plaster in my eyes to see who I’ve hit.
Swiping at my face, I smash my foot down on the only pedal on the floor—assuming it must be the brake since the levers control speed and direction. After a heart-lurching skid across the carpet, the brakes rock the machine to a stop.
I pitch forward, my chest colliding with the control panel, reminding me that I’m naked. I’ll have to find something in the wreckage to throw on before Maxim and I make a run for the car.
Please let Maxim be in one piece and able to run for the car…
Please don’t let it be Maxim dangling from the front of my makeshift murder weapon…
“Willow, are you hurt? I can’t get to you over these fucking wheels.”
Maxim! He’s alive.
I turn with a sob of relief, shifting onto my knees on the bench seat. Maxim is back in his human form with his hand braced against one of the large back wheels. He’s pale and still bleeding from the wound at his throat, but the blood isn’t coming fast and otherwise he appears to be in one piece.
But I’m pretty sure the same can’t be said for his brother.
Swallowing hard, I glance back over my shoulder. The plaster drifting through the air has cleared enough to make it easy to see Bane hanging from the front of the machine. The claw hit him right under his ribs, nearly slicing him in half, just like in my vision.
The sight of him hanging there, soulless and empty, like a pig ready for butchering, hits me in the gut. My stomach pitches and I lean over just in time to avoid vomiting all over myself.
I’m sick for several seconds. By the time it feels safe to sit up straight again, the man from the hotel office is outside the demolished room, shouting at the top of his lungs.
“What the fuck have you done? What the fucking fuck?” he shouts, dragging a shaking hand through his thin brown hair as his eyes do their best to leap out of his head. “Is that a fucking wolf in there?”
“The animal was rabid,” Maxim says, limping around the bulldozer to the overturned table, wincing as he steps on shattered glass. “It must have smelled our food or something. It jumped through the window and attacked us while we were sleeping. But don’t worry, we’ll pay for all the damages.”
“Fuck,” the man says, his head shaking numbly back and forth as he squints at what’s left of Bane. “That’s the biggest wolf I’ve ever seen. It’s like something from a fucking video game.”
“And, unfortunately, it bit me before my wife killed it,” Maxim says as he locates our bag and his jeans on the floor. He steps into them as he adds, “So, we need to get to the hospital as soon as possible.”
“But we’ll leave you our number in New York,” I say as I climb over the seat and hop down onto the carpet.
“All right,” the man says, glancing my way, then quickly averting his gaze, clearly more uncomfortable with my nudity than Maxim’s.
“We’ll be home in a couple of days and can wire the money right away,” Maxim adds, pressing my sweater into my hands.
By the time I pull it over my head and twist my wild hair into a knot at the nape of my neck, he’s found my jeans, too. No panties, but at this point, rough denim irritating my tender parts is also low on the list of things I’m worried about.
“Doesn’t seem fair for you to pay for damages when you were attacked in your sleep,” the man says, moving deeper into the room to get a closer look at Bane. “I’ll talk to my insurance rep. This might be covered by my policy. Nothing about people driving construction equipment through walls in there, I’m sure, but what else was a tiny woman supposed to do against a monster like that? Not like you could’ve fought that thing off with your bare hands.”
