Running From the Vampire Into the Arms of the Wolf: (10 page)

Chapter
Ten

“
Melanie
...”

Ice cold fear flooded through her body. 
Please.  Dios.  No.
 

“
Melanie
...”  His sing song voice taunted her.

She closed her eyes. 
This wasn’t happening.  31
st
October, Halloween.  How fitting she thought a little hysterically.

She stood stock
still, there really was no point in running.  He circled her slowly before standing in front of her.  His cruelly handsome face smiling at her.  He opened his mouth to show her his fangs.  She shivered. 
She always did when she saw them.
  He chuckled. 
He always did
.             

“
Three long fucking months you have kept me waiting Melanie.  You will not keep me waiting a moment longer
.”  His silken voice belied the fury he felt at that moment.

He traced ice
cold fingers down her cheek, wandering down to her breasts.  She whimpered at the familiar yet strange touch.

She licked her dry lips.  “Please don’t.”

He put one hand on her hip, the fingers pressing into her.  He flicked out a nail with his other hand and tore away the shoulder of her jacket and t-shirt, exposing her shivering skin.  She tried to squirm but he increased the pressure on her hip, tightly digging into her.  She cried out and he laughed lightly.  “
My poor little Melanie, you always know how this will turn out and yet you always try to struggle
.”

He licked his velvet tongue across her exposed shoulder and neck, her body was rigid at the unwelcome touch.  She let out a sob.

“
Sshhhh, just relax, you always enjoy it more when you relax
.”

“The only comfort I get is that I can never remember most of the things you do to me.”  She said venomously.

He stilled his mouth against her shoulder.  He spun her and pulled her back to him, his arms locking round her.

His mouth was inches from her ear.  “
Perhaps this time you should remember.  You’re mine Melanie, you belong to me and you always will. This time I will make sure you never forget...” 

He snarled and clamped his fangs into her neck.  She screamed as searing agony shot through her.  Her body went limp in his
arms, she couldn’t control her arms or legs.  Couldn’t will them to struggle and get away.  Her mind shouted at her body to move, to hit him, to kick him but she was lost to his bite.  She tried to reach for her magic but to no avail.

He ferociously leeched the life force from her.  Her mind succumbed to the onslaught and a haze settled over her.

His hands sought her clothes, tearing at them.  His excitement growing with every drop of blood he stole from her.  Instinctively she shuddered as he pressed he arousal against her.

He pulled his fangs from her and groaned his pleasure.

Distantly she heard roaring.  The arms holding her up let her go and she fell to the ground.  She felt herself being pulled into darkness, she held on as long as she could before surrendering and allowing the darkness to take over.

*

Fifteen minutes ago

Hans
watched as Melody left the restaurant.  She waved a half-hearted goodbye to his family and walked out.  Was he really the only one who could see that her smile was fake?  Did nobody else see the pain she was trying to hide.

His sisters were giggling and chatting excitedly about the party, whilst his mother and brother looked on indulgently.  They were all going to the Halloween party.  His mother
was a witch, his brother had gone slapped on some fake blood and gore to make himself look like a murder victim, whilst his sisters were dressed at fairytale princesses... except with really short skirts and lots of make-up.  If he hadn’t been agonising about Melody he would have made his feelings felt about their slutty outfits.

He grabbed his jacket moving his sisters out the way.  As usual they yelled at him.  As usual he
took no notice of them.

Acksel
caught his shoulder.  “Hey bro’ you coming to the party?”

Hans shrugged
out of his grip making for the door.  “No.”

Acksel
looked at him blankly.  “Is Melody?”

Hans spun back glaring at him.  His wolf roared within him. 
Why the hell did he want to know? 
“How the fuck should I know?”

“
Hans
...”  His mother admonished him weakly. 
Hans was 31, there really wasn’t much point anymore.

Hans ignored them and stomped out the door. 

He needed to catch up with Melody.  He didn’t want to talk to her.  He was still too angry, too unhappy with her...  But he didn’t want her to walk home alone.  He had to be there to protect her. 
Even if she didn’t know it.

He’d followed her home every night she’d worked since the day he met her.  He’d even made sure she got home safely the night she had thrown beer all over him in Bar Luna.

He hadn’t known why he had first started following her, he’d just been driven by instinct.  An instinctual need to protect her, to provide for her.  His wolf had been smitten with her from the moment he scented her and he finally admitted the truth he had been ignoring for more than a month now. 
She was his mate.

She was his whole world. 
The woman who was made for him.  He’d never felt this way about anyone before.  Hell he could barely stand to be apart from her.  He just didn’t know if he could trust her...

He sensed affection from her,
surprisingly
.  He hadn’t exactly done anything to warrant it.  He didn’t think she would actually reject him as her mate.  Everything about the way she reacted to his behaviour surprised him.  Where other women would run for the hills she was teasing and playful or downright livid with him. 
She wasn’t scared of him
.

Since he was a child he’d been prone to violent rages
, only made worse by his father’s death.  The scar down his cheek was from a particularly vicious fight between himself and two older hyena shifters when he was 13.  He had come out of it with the scar, them with broken arms. 

He had barely been able to control himself which is why when he was 18 he joined the army.  Yeah, it was a miracle he passed the psych evaluation.  Army recruiters saw the benefit of having shifters in their ranks, stronger, faster and quicker at healing, what wasn’t there to like?

He’d done okay for a few years, his quick temper and foul mouth meant that he didn’t rise very high in the ranks.  But he calmed somewhat over the years. 
Until the incident...

One of the human commanders at his barracks hated shifters.  He thought they were animals and treated them even worse than that.  After he had made a new recruit, a mountain lion shifter, literally lick his boots clean Hans had seen red.

He had confronted the commander and harangued him for his treatment of the young boy.  The human had laughed in his face calling him a
low dirty dog
.  Hans had wanted to kill him on the spot, but given how much more reasonable he had become whilst in the army he tried a different approach.

He goaded the
human, calling him inferior to shifters, telling him his wife preferred shifters... the commander had attacked him. 
Quite viciously too
.  Hans had of course defended himself, even more viciously. 
A little too viciously...

The commander had died of internal injuries.
  He apparently was already quite ill, his organs had been failing due to excessive drinking, and his body had not been able to cope with the brutal punishment bestowed by Hans. 

Everybody agreed that the commander had attacked first.  There was no doubt.  However, Hans had fought back aggressively.  He was sentenced to two years in military
prison, followed by a dishonourable discharge.

After that he had drifted for a while until he started cage fighting. 
Beating people up for money, it had been ideal for him.  He got to work out all his rage on a random guy without the worry of getting arrested. 
Thank god for waivers
.

He had however come home when his mother asked.  She was the only woman he had ever listened to, until Melody of course...

The only people he could really stand to be around were his mother, his brother, Carly because she was the Omega, his friend Cain and Don Cross, a pack member who was reserved and didn’t talk much.  Occasionally they got together for a drink and sat there not talking to one another.  Either punching each other’s head in, or quietly drinking were the only forms of friendship he tolerated.

His sisters... whilst he would never physically hurt them, he couldn’t stand to be around them.  They acted like vapid, silly little wolves.
  He could only really stand his brother because he was able to take a punch and not get mad.

Did Melody really want to be
bonded to him forever
?  It was a bit like asking someone to handcuff themselves to a drowning lunatic.

Hans stopped and grimaced as the smell of death permeated his nose, it was tempered by the sweetest smell of cherry blossoms... and blood. 
Melody
.

His wolf howled and he set off running.  He saw two figures struggling.  His legs pumped faster toward her. 

She was crying in agony, being held up by a dark figure.  The creature was ripping at her clothes and biting her neck. 
Vampire
.

He roared powerfully and he hurled himself towards them, willing himself to move faster.  The creature raised its head and curled its lips, licking her blood of its sharpened teeth.
  It laughed at him before throwing Melody to the ground and disappearing into the woods with supernatural speed.

He finally reached his mate.  He knelt down
beside her gingerly picking up her tiny frame.

Hans cradled his mate in his arms. 
His wolf whimpered for her.  She was bloody and bruised, her breaths shallow.  Her heart beat slowly and unevenly.  A vampire had attacked his mate, tried to feed from her, tried to rape her...

She was so small and helpless. He wanted to scream, cry and hit something.  Most of all her wanted to reach out and heal her, he needed her to be okay.  Losing her would be unbearable.

He had treated her so badly, denied her to the point of cruelty.  How could he ever of thought he’d be able to live without her?  A tear rolled down his cheek and splashed onto her blood splattered body.

He looked at the bit marks on her neck.  That fucker had touched his mate
, he had scarred her.  His beast snarled in fury.  Hans wanted to tear after the vampire, to rip him to shreds, but he couldn’t leave her half naked and bloody.  He had to stay with her, he had to protect her.  He had to keep her safe no matter what.

Mindful not to jar her even more, he took off his jacket
and wrapped it round her, covering her as best he could.  He lifted her gently, she felt so light in his arms.  He brushed a kiss over her forehead and she moved against him, snuggling into his shoulder.

He had to get her somewhere safe.

Then the vampire had to die.

Chapter
Eleven

He was chasing her... the vampire
... his claws reached out her... no matter how fast she moved it wasn’t enough... he was going to catch her.  An icy cold hand gripped her wrist and pulled her back...

“
Hello princess...”

She blinked awake.  It was a dream, just another horrible dream and yet... it wasn’t really was it?  He had found her. 
Again
.  She had thought she was safe here in Rose.  She had almost been
happy
. 

A silent tear travelled down her cheek.  She furiously rubbed it away.  No time for self pity.  She had to get moving, she had to leave before the vampire decided to punish some of the townspeople.  The thought of any of her friends getting hurt because of her was unbearable.  The thought that he might hurt Hans...

Just because she had got away from him doesn’t mean anyone else could.

Wait, how had she got away
this time? 
Looking out the window she saw it was still dark.  She vaguely remembered him biting her.  She carefully felt her neck, it felt red raw.  Her fingers brushed over the telltale bite mark. 
Definitely His mark
.

After the bite everything seemed to go black.  Panic hit as she realised she wasn’t sleeping in her own bed, or wearing her own clothes. 
Was this His bed?

Her eyes tried to adjust to the darkness.
  She could just about make out the shapes of a wardrobe and bookcase by the light of the moonlight.  She was wearing a large dark t-shirt.  Gingerly she felt under the covers. 
Nope, no underwear.

She heard the door squeak open, followed by a slither of light.  She snapped her eyes shut.  The door clicked closed and soft footsteps made their way to the bed.  She tensed holding herself still as the other side of the bed dipped
as someone sat down.

“I know you’re
awake Melody.”  His gruff voice was like music to her.

“Hans?”  She squeaked.

She sat up swiftly and groaned as her muscles protested severely.  He turned round to look at her, the moonlight pouring through the window danced over the long silver scar on his face, his eyes flashed amber.

He was torn between worry and fury.  His eyes strayed to her neck. 
He was looking at the bite
.  A look of loathing passed over his features, his eyes burning brightly.

Slowly
she closed her eyes and lay back down.  She didn’t want to see his disgust for her,
imagining it was bad enough
.

She heard two thuds and was surprised when he lay down on his back next to her
. 
He’d taken his boots off
.

He was careful not to touch her.  After finding her, bloody, half-naked about to be raped... he wasn’t sure whether a touch from
him would be welcome.  He’d thought back to what happened in her cottage last night. 
When he was pinning her to the bed, crushing her under his body
.  She’d struggled under him, he’d thought she was just being playful. 
It just turned him on more.

He was disgusted with himself.  He’d held her tightly and kissed her forcefully.  She’d snapped and told him to get off of her.  Maybe she thought he was trying to rape her too.  His wolf whined at the thought.  He would never, to any woman... yet he could understand her reaction.

He suspected this
vampire
had attacked her before... had laid his dead hands on Hans mate and taken her body without permission.  His beast was snarling now.  It would explain why Melody would have changed her name, if she was running away. 
Maybe she was Melanie after all
.

He held his breath and reached out to touch her hand.  She didn’t flinch.  She turned her hand and clasped it to her, interlacing their fingers.

He sighed with relief. 
At least she didn’t hate him
.

Melody held onto his hand tightly, not wanting to let it go.  The feel of his flesh was warm and comforting. 
She needed this
.  She never wanted to let it go, she wanted to stay here in this little moment forever.

But... they needed to talk.
 
She needed to know how much he knew.

She opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling.  “Where are we?”  She asked tentatively.

He exhaled loudly.  “My brother’s house.  I figured it was safer for you to be on pack land.  I would have taken you to my mother’s but...”

She bit her lip.  “You don’t want your mom and sisters to be in danger because of me, I completely agree.”

He turned to look at her.  “I guess” he agreed grudgingly.  “I was actually gonna say that my sisters are incredibly nosy and I didn’t think you’d want grilling right now.”

She
looked at his serious expression gave a small chuckle.  She reached to him and stroked his cheek.  “My hero.”

He felt a surge of happiness, which was quickly deflated when he remembered the vampire.  “What happened with the vampire Melody?”

She winced.  “It’s a long story...”

“
I’m not going anywhere
.” 

*

Melody,
no Melanie
, told him everything.  She was ashamed but she told him.  She told him her real name, how she had met
Him
, how he had hunted her,
the things he did to her
... she couldn’t bear to look at Hans as she told him.  She turned her face away to look at the wall.  Worried he would look at her like she was sullied, worried he would pity her.

She told him everything right up until when the vampire attacked her again.

“I only remember
Him
biting me, nothing else after that...”  Her voice broke into a sob.

Hans, keeping hold of her hand sat up on the bead and leaned on the headboard.  Gently he pulled his mate into his arms and held her
in his lap like a child as sobs wracked her body.  She clung to him fiercely.

“Melanie...”

She looked up at him and smiled sadly.  “It’s nice to hear my name again.”

He kissed her softly.  He waited to see if she would object before deepening the kiss.  Heat rushed through her body and she felt him swelling beneath her.
  His wolf howled in pleasure.

He pulled back and gave her a fierce look.  “I’m not going to let him hurt you again, you’re mine,
you belong to me!”

She focussed her eyes on the window, watching the bright moon.  “That’s what he always said to me...”

“Don’t compare me to him!”  Both man and wolf roared at her.  He shook with rage, but she paid him no heed.  She nestled into his shoulder and gently bit his neck. 

“What happened after I passed out
?” 

“I saw him attack you, when I came for him he ran off.”

“Thank you.  It’s lucky you were there...”

He
tutted impatiently.  “You don’t have to thank me... I’d... I’d do anything for you, anything to keep you safe... I couldn’t bear it if...”

“Thank you... for caring.”

He huffed, not unhappily.

“My clothes?”

He gritted his teeth.  “
Shredded
.”

“
Oh
.”

She closed his eyes and listened to the steady beat of his heart.  “Did
Acksel lend me this t-shirt?”

“No!”  He snapped.  “It’s
mine, I wouldn’t allow you to wear one of his... I know he had a thing for you.”

She giggled lightly. 
He was so prickly
.  “He doesn’t really, he just asked me out once.”

“He what?!”
  Bellowed Hans.

“He asked me to go to the Halloween party, that’s all.”

Hans ground his jaw, trying to calm the baying beast within who wanted to run downstairs and rip apart the rival for his mate.  But then Acksel was his little brother...

“When was this?”  Hans asked tightly.  “The night he was naked and flashing you?”

She pushed against his chest so she upright.  She kneeled between his legs and rested her hands on his biceps.  His face was furious, she suspected his fury wasn’t actually directed at her though.

“How do you know about that?”

He jutted his chin out at her.  “I followed you home.”

She blinked a couple of times.
  “You did?  Have you done it before?”

“Every night since I met you.”
  He told her boldy and unapologetically.

She cocked her head on one side, regarding him closely.  Hans had protected her from
Him
, he’d been protecting her since the moment he met her.  The thought warmed and elated her.

“Thank you.”  She moved forward and threw her arms round him, planting a thorough kiss on his lips.

He snaked his arms round her and rubbed her back.  “Any time sugar.”

He rested his forehead against hers inhaling her beautiful scent.
  The smell of death still lingered making his beast growl.

He lifted his hand and rubbed a thumb across the mark left by the vampire.  She froze and grimaced.

“Let me bite you, let me mark you and cover
this
.”  

She chewed on her lip for a few seconds
before nodding.

Melanie
moved forward and straddled his legs so their groins were touching.  He could feel the heat radiating from her making him even harder.

He kissed her,
then pulling away he pressed small butterfly kisses across her jaw and down her neck.  Her stomach fluttered, wanting him to perform this intimate act but also worried it would hurt.

He smoothed his tongue on her neck, over the vampire’s bite, preparing her. 
His fangs lengthened and he tenderly scraped them over her skin sending tingles to her womb. He reached a hand under her shirt and began massaging her breasts one by one.  She groaned her appreciation and ground her sex into his.

She gripped his shoulders tightly as he pushed his fangs into her
skin, her body accepted his bite so easily, like he was pressing into butter.  She moaned a little at the pain but found herself too distracted by his soft kneading and his rapidly swelling shaft.

Smoothly
he pulled out of her skin and sighed at the exquisite taste of her blood.  He licked the wound to seal it.  He looked at the raw mark, admiring his work, his wolf roaring his approval. 
Much better
.

Melanie
pulled him into a kiss whilst she moved her hips over his groin.  He groaned and deepened the kiss, his tongue tangling with hers.  He moved his hand down to her sex gently cupping her mound.

Bang, bang, bang!
 
“Hans!  Lets go!”

Acksel
was pounding on the bedroom door shouting at his brother. 

Melanie
pulled away abruptly.  Reluctantly Hans lifted Melanie away from him and leaned over the bed to retrieve his boots.  “Adam and Alec are probably here.”  He explained.  “I told them about the vampire attacking you, Acksel put together a search party to find him.”

“Oh, what about the Halloween party?”

“Cancelled.  Can’t risk anyone being out with a vampire on the loose.  All the pack have been told to stay inside, and Alec’s put the same order out to the other shifters and humans.”

She nodded dumbly.  “This is my
fault, other people might suffer because of me.”

He turned and gripped her arms.  “None of this is your fault.  Don’t ever think that.”  He ordered fiercely.

He sighed and then relaxed his arms.  “I’m sorry I don’t mean to...”

Melanie traced the scar down his cheek. 
“Don’t be sorry, I like how passionate you are.”

He chuckled.  “
Yeah well, you’re the only one.”

“
Good
.”

Bang, bang, bang!
 
“Hans!” 

Hans roared at the closed door, a moment later
Acksel stomped down the stairs muttering to himself.

Hans stood up, towering over her.  He leaned down, his face inches from hers.  “Stay here.”  He gave her a quick chaste kiss before leaving.

*

Hans ran downstairs to find
members of his pack waiting for him, including the Alpha, Beta, his brother, Don the pack tracker, Mal one of his brother’s fellow Enforcers and Jake a Sheriff’s Deputy.

“How is she?” 
Asked Adam.

Hans’ jaw ticked. 
“Fine... considering.  Have you found
it
?”

Don exhaled loudly. 
“No, not yet.  Fucker’s wily and fast movin’ I’ll give him that.”