Lycan Lover

Chapter Four

He was right, she’d never forget him, but she had too many questions. And, if she were honest with herself, she’d acknowledge that she’d never think of him as a mistake. Before she could answer, she saw him tense once again. His muscles were strained so tightly she thought they might pop from under his skin. Was he angry with her? A shred of fear crept into her bones, but before it could engulf her, she heard a sound at the opposite end of the alley and turned her head to look. The blond guy with the icy hazel eyes was back with a few friends. Anthony was panting hard, sniffing the air. As she watched him, she realized that he’d known the men were there long before she had.

Fear made a full-out appearance and caused her stomach to clench. Anthony stared into her, through her, and his eyes began to burn bright green. He turned his head toward the punks. He let out a low growl, very unlike the ones that had excited her a few minutes earlier. The hairs on the back of her neck stood on end once again.

He stood straight, took in a deep, chest expanding breath, and flexed his shoulders. He carefully shoved her behind him and away from the men who were walking slowly toward them. He reminded her of the way a wild animal made itself look bigger to intimidate its foes. She thought it very strange that she had compared him to an animal at least three times already. No one she’d ever met had enticed such a comparison from her before.

“I thought I already told you once to take a hike, pup.”

Anthony’s voice was low, gravelly and laced with deadly threat and warning. What was the deal with the pup innuendo? He’d called the man that several times earlier too. Trying not to draw attention to herself, she took a few slow steps back. When she stepped in a crack and her ankle twisted, a small cry tore from her. She watched as Anthony’s back muscles tensed and knew he was aware that she had hurt herself. She was glad she didn’t have those damn stilettos on or she would have probably broken her ankle.

“Well, I don’t like being told what to do, and when I informed my friends about the little lady there”—Hazel Eyes made a point of craning his neck around to look at Karen behind Anthony—“we all decided she would be just too much fun to pass up.” He sniffed the air and grinned. “And, by the smell of things, you already had your fun with her, so why not let us have a go?”

Karen’s face burned with embarrassment. How the hell could he possibly know that she and Anthony had been intimate? The men continued to advance, and Karen continued to limp backward. Anthony was big, but the odds were stacked against him, five to one. She had to get out of there, yet she was scared for Anthony. Even though he’d probably been stalking her, she didn’t want to see him hurt or worse, especially over her. But what could she possibly do?

Suddenly, she remembered she had pepper spray in her purse. But where the hell was it? She thought for a moment. She’d dropped it when she’d made that sorry excuse for an escape from Anthony earlier. She looked around and saw it lying about two feet to her right beside one of her shoes, and she inched toward it.

As soon as her hand reached it, she heard running footsteps and knew the men were coming at Anthony. She opened the purse, dumped it on the ground, and began clawing through the scattered contents for the spray. Note to self—stop cramming so much crap into your damn purse. It’s not a freaking suitcase.

Anthony eyed the men. All five of them were young lycans, cocky and stupid. None realized he was about to die, because Anthony would and could kill them all. It would be a hell of a fight, but he was older, stronger, and more experienced than all of them put together. He didn’t want Karen to see this side of him, or at least not this soon. He knew it was going to scare the hell out of her, but there was no way around it. He let his claws slide out and his fangs elongate while fiery rage burned through his veins.

They ambushed him, as he thought they would. He threw two of the pups off and grinned when he heard the snap of bones and whimpers as they smacked hard against the brick wall. They would heal quickly, but they’d be in a lot of pain for a while. Karen was smart enough to run, but he knew she’d hurt herself when backing away from him. He hoped that the injury wouldn’t impair her escape, yet it didn’t really matter because he wouldn’t let any of these assholes near her. He’d kill them all if they persisted.

The blond lycan punched him in the face while the other two landed punches and kicks anywhere they could. He barely felt their blows and shook them off as easily as a dog shakes off water after a bath. Two of the pups continued punching and kicking Anthony while the blond headed for a new target.

Karen wrapped her fingers around the pepper spray a split second before she was grabbed from behind, spun around, and once again pinned to the brick wall. This time, the situation was very different. Hazel Eyes stared at her and her blood turned to ice in her veins. The hands holding her were not gentle and bruised her skin, and his feral grin raised goose bumps to the surface. She kept the pepper spray turned away from him and hoped that he wouldn’t notice it until she had the chance to use it. The closest thing she’d ever felt to terror was when she had stayed late for work one night and the night guard had come up behind her and scared the stuffing out of her. That hadn’t even come close to the horror she felt at this very moment.

He pulled a handful of her hair toward him and rubbed it on his face before burying his nose in the strands and sniffing it. “Mmm. You smell nice. I bet you will feel nice, too. I can already imagine that sweet little cunt of yours wrapped around my cock.” He reached down and cupped himself. “And, imagine that, it’s already hard for you.” He let out a menacing chuckle that nearly made her gag.

“Please, I just want to go home.” She palmed the pepper spray nervously and hoped that in her fright, she wouldn’t trigger its use too early. She feared for her life. This man was after one thing. Her. And she knew he’d get it in any way he had to, even if it meant taking her last breath.

Hazel Eyes laughed. “I don’t think so. At least not quite yet.”

Before she could utter another word, he ripped her coat open and exposed her breasts through her already torn shirt and bra. His eyes widened an instant before a wicked smile spread wide across his face while he licked his lips. She watched as his hand came toward her. She didn’t want this man to touch her. She knew if he did no amount of scrubbing would ever remove his touch from her skin. He would be an invisible scar forever branded on her. She quickly brought the hand up with the pepper spray, aiming it toward his face.

Before she could release a stream of the fiery liquid, he grabbed her wrist with blinding speed and squeezed until she thought her bones would break. She gasped in pain and had no choice but to let go of the spray. She watched in horror as her one chance of salvation clattered to the ground and rolled away. “That wasn’t very nice.”

“I don’t want to be nice, especially to you.” The punches and groans echoing in the alley told her Anthony was still fighting with the other men. At least the odds were evening with only two against one since the other two had gone slinking off after Anthony had injured them. She hadn’t seen much of the fight after that and had only heard bits and pieces while she looked for the now-lost pepper spray. She prayed that Anthony would win against the odds and be able to help her because Hazel Eyes was stronger than any man should be and she knew she could never get the upper hand on him physically.

“Aww. That’s not very nice. You and me are going to have a real good time. Once I’m finished fucking you, you’ll know what a real man is, and you’ll forget all about that loser down there.” He gave a quick jerk of his head in Anthony’s direction.

“Don’t count on it. You repulse me. I didn’t seem to have that problem with Anthony.” He snarled, his face twisted, and she immediately regretted taunting him. She’d royally pissed him off. A low growl reverberated from his throat, and those eerie hazel eyes glowed. What was the deal with these men growling, and those damned eerie eyes? Had they all decided to play the same character for Halloween? Maybe she’d figure it out later, if she weren’t dead.

“Well, let’s just see about that, huh?” He bent and took her mouth with bruising force, grinding the back of her head into the bricks. Tears sprang to her eyes, and when she gasped, he took the opportunity to push his tongue into her mouth. She nearly gagged. She couldn’t go through this. She would rather die than be raped, and she had a feeling he would do so much more than rape her. He would not only take her body but also ravage her mind and soul. She knew she would never be the same if this happened.

He continued ravishing her mouth and began pushing his hand up her skirt when he was suddenly jerked backward, and Karen was free. Tears streamed down her face, and she sank to the ground after pulling her coat tightly around her shivering form. She looked up to see Anthony pounding on the man. Relief that he was not touching her any longer coursed through her.

“You dare touch my woman?” Anthony grabbed the man by the neck. “I’ll kill you for that.”

Some of the cockiness seemed to drain out of Hazel Eyes, and Karen knew the man finally realized he was not going to win this fight. She saw something else too. Were those claws on Anthony’s fingers? And . . . Oh my God! He had fangs, and his eyes were glowing. What the hell was he? Memories of how he had sniffed the air as if smelling for predators and of how he had already known the men were in the alley long before she had flooded her brain. Hazel Eyes had sniffed her too.

While the sight was terrifying and she was definitely petrified of Hazel Eyes, she was still not afraid of Anthony. He would not hurt her, she was sure of that. He could have already done so, and for the last several minutes, he had been fighting to protect her. But that still didn’t answer the question of what the hell he was. Come on Karen. Get a hold of yourself. It’s almost Halloween. Remember? Halloween or not, she’d never seen such realistic-looking makeup.

She looked at Anthony closer. That was one hell of a costume. But why would he have put it on during the fight because she sure as hell would have noticed the claws and fangs when he’d been kissing her. Before she could contemplate it further, Anthony tossed the blond man through the air and he landed with a smack against the wall right beside her.

Before she could scoot away from him, he turned, grabbed her arm, raised it to his mouth, and stared at Anthony with a grin that was half arrogant, half fearful. “So, shall we see who wins this little game?”

Anthony froze. “Don’t do it.”

“Why not?”

“Because I will kill you.”

“You already said you would do that anyway. Just think of it as a gift from me.”

Before Karen realized what he was talking about, the man bit down on her arm and his canines pierced deep into her flesh. She cried out as searing, white-hot pain shot through her. Suddenly, the man was jerked from her once again. All at once, she realized two things. One, the fangs were real, and two, she was pretty sure they weren’t wearing costumes.

The young lycan was going to die. Anthony had planned to let him go after a good beating, but that was before he’d actually touched Karen. Rage like he had never felt pumped through his veins and his vision blazed red. The pup twisted free from Anthony’s hands and ran toward the end of the alley. Anthony’s adrenaline bestowed him with even more power and speed, and the young lycan didn’t stand a chance. Anthony leaped and came down hard on the pup’s back. He grasped his head between his hands and snapped his neck with a loud crack as if it were a twig. Anthony let the body fall to the ground and, knowing the other lycans would come back for it, left it where it crumpled.

“Anthony.”

Karen’s cry of pain doused his anger, and he sprinted back to her. He was thankful a huge dumpster sat between her and the pup, blocking her from witnessing what he’d just done.

He crouched beside her. She was holding her arm and tears were streaming down her cheeks. He pushed the hair back off her face and she looked up at him with wide, pleading eyes. He wanted to kill the damn pup all over again for causing her such pain.

“Oh, baby. I’m so sorry. I never meant for this to happen this way.”

“Wh-what do you mean you didn’t want this to happen this way?”

He scooped her up and began walking. “Look, let me get you some place safe. After that, we can talk.”

“I only live a couple blocks that way.” She pointed the opposite way he was walking.

“I know where you live, but that’s not where we’re going. You need to be out in the open.” In a couple days, she would need a lot of space to run. His place would be perfect.

“Why am I not surprised you know where I live?” Her brows turned down. “I don’t understand why you think I need to be out in the open. What does that even mean anyway?” He nearly grinned when she yawned. “I need to go home.” She laid her head against his chest. “I’m so tired.”

“Look, Karen, I won’t hurt you, and as hard as it may be, you have to trust me, okay?”

She whispered, “I know you won’t hurt me, Anthony. But, what are you? I mean, I know it’s almost Halloween and all, but it still doesn’t explain what I saw.”

“Shh. Don’t worry about it right now. We’ll talk about it later.” So she had seen the claws and the fangs, and probably his glowing eyes, too. He was relieved she didn’t ask any further questions at that particular moment. He carried her to his black Hummer parked on the side of the road a few blocks away and carefully placed her on the seat. She immediately slumped into a deep sleep.

Anthony found Karen’s keys in her purse’s contents scattered all over the alley. He shoved everything back in the bag and was amazed that so much stuff could fit in such a tiny space. He grabbed her shoes and made a note to keep them in a safe place because he wanted to see her in them again—and only them. Well, maybe those sexy fishnet stockings and garters, too. His cock twitched in excitement, and he blew out a long breath. He drove to her apartment and packed some clothes for her. He hoped she’d be more thankful at having them when she woke up later than angry at the fact he’d gone into her apartment and through her things.