“He’s close. No more than ten minutes.”
Demon took in all the grim warriors that came to their feet. The only ones who had stayed with the plane were Cleo and Ian, and that had been against protest. The rest had been waiting alongside him for word since Clytie had been taken. This was what a pack was, people who would lay down their lives to keep each other safe, not the twisted slavery that Gregory and his ilk would make it. He only hoped he had the chance to show Clytie that Clancy and his breed were not what he was offering her. That he could keep her safe. Please God let him be in time to keep her safe.
Demon’s voice was a savage growl as he looked over his pack mates. “Nobody kills Clancy but me.”
“That’s it.” Eli said a few minutes later. “We have him.”
When the door opened, Clytie knew her reprieve was over. Clancy, without any of his former attempts at charm, radiated menace in nothing but a pair of unbuttoned jeans. He might have modeled for a living with his angel face and trim body but all Clytie wanted was for him to go away again.
He held up his hand, the one she had tried to shoot off, and smiled. “All better love. Now I can show you what we do to little girls who don’t mind.”
Clytie swallowed hard, palming her pathetic hair clip and standing up. If he healed a shotgun blast in only a few hours, she had no chance of hurting him with a little sharpened metal.
He came in and closed the door. “I’m trying to decide if I want to cut your hand off before or after I have you. What do you think?”
She sucked in a shaky breath, determined not to give him the satisfaction of her fear. “Will what I think make a difference?”
“Maybe. Why don’t you try asking nice?” He pulled down his pants until his cock was revealed. His voice lost its false cheer. “On your knees. You do me real nice and I might forget you tried to shoot my fucking hand off.”
No! He was going to kill her anyway; she saw that in his eyes. There were some things you didn’t come back from. She’d rather fight and die than give him what he wanted. If she got him mad enough he might even kill her quick. You knew you were in real trouble when a quick death didn’t sound so bad. At least she had the satisfaction of knowing Demon would kill him for this. Cold comfort though it was.
“I doubt you would have missed that hand. From the little I can see, and I do mean little, one is more than sufficient for the job.”
The silence was booming, then in a less than human growl he spoke. “I’m going to eat your heart while I fuck you.”
“Can you do two things at once? That’s not what Demon said.”
He started forward but the name halted him half lunge.
“Demon?”
“You did ask me who I belonged to.” She glanced pointedly at his exposed dick, now deflated. “You know he’s going to kill you right?”
“He won’t find us here, but I’ll be sure to send you back to him in pieces. All except the heart.” He took a flying leap forward and ripped what was left of her tattered dress completely off. He pulled her against him. She wanted to gag at the touch of him on her bare stomach. He yanked off her bra bruising her in the process.
She shoved the sharpened hair clip into his neck right above his Adams apple. He roared, throwing her away so that she slammed into the concrete floor and almost blacked out. She was aware enough to see him yank the clip out spraying blood in a hot ark.
“You fucking bitch.” He roared, his words garbled, either because of the damage or because he was changing into a wolf.
Clytie struggled up to her knees, the blood seeping from the cut on her head covering half her face before she made it even that far. He grabbed her by the hair and yanked her up off the floor. She yelped, grabbing his wrists while her head throbbed. He was going to break her neck, all it would take was a twist of his hands, and she would be dead. She saw the knowledge in his eyes, even as she weakly tried to knee him in the balls.
“Maybe I’ll just send him your head.” He spat out blood with each word, but already his wound had closed. He shifted his grip so her neck was in his grip, his face close. He licked the blood off her cheek with a long swipe and popped his lips in appreciation. “I bet he’ll miss you when you’re gone.”
Clytie closed her eyes and waited for the killing blow. Instead, the sound of the door exploding had her eyes snapping open. Demon. The relief was instantaneous.
She wasn’t allowed to enjoy it long before Clancy jettisoned her body and she hit the wall. The last thing she heard before she blacked out was Demons roar of rage.
As soon as Demon saw Clytie crumble to the ground he knew the fight he’d been having for control of his wolf was lost. Bones cracked and changed, hair sprouted and he grew a foot across the shoulders shredding his clothes. The rage of an animal whose mate had been hurt coursed through his veins and he welcomed it with a bloody vengeance. Halfway between man and beast, he charged Clancy with claws out and teeth bared. His jaw was still expanding when he drew first blood latching onto Clancy’s collarbone and crushing it.
Clancy fought back, teeth flashing, razor claws raking. He swiped at Demons face trying to blind him and missed, tearing strips out of his neck and shoulder instead. He lunged and bit at anything vulnerable but Demon was too fast. He had open wounds bleeding out faster than his body could heal. The fight began to take its toll. He was slowing down. A hardened and vicious fighter he was still no match for an enraged Demon. When Clancy realized he was going to die, he tried to make a run for it. Demon ripped out his spine. Then he started on the rest.
Demon dropped down beside Clytie shaking and covered with gore, but back in his right mind. He was afraid to touch her. She was the only spot in the whole room not splattered with Clancy. He wiped his hands off on the concrete as best he could then reached for her pulse, praying as he did so that her heart still beat. She shifted and groaned and it was the sweetest sound he’d ever heard.
“Oh God, Baby.” His voice was as shaky as his knees, but he carefully checked her over for broken bones, pulling her hair back from her face to study the cut there. There was already a knot forming that worried him. She still wore her panties, but nothing else. He had almost been too late.
Ben came through the door as Demon pulled Clytie into his arms. “I need something to cover her, and make sure the medic Lucas is sending is at the house by the time we get there.”
Ben pulled off his black top and placed it over Clytie like a blanket. She was so small and bloody in Demons arms. “What do you want us to do with the rest?”
Walking into the other room Demon found his team surrounding the four knocked out wolves. It had taken maybe two minutes for his men to shoot them full of drugs and take the house. He wanted to burn the place to the ground with them in it, but pack law was clear.
“Leave them, they can return Clancy to his father, if they can find enough pieces. They’ll be lucky if Gregory doesn’t kill them all.” He looked down at Clytie, the rage in his eyes simmering. “Any other messages I’ll deliver after Clytie is taken care of.”
Clytie woke screaming.
“Baby, it’s me. You’re safe. Clytie you’re home.” His words eventually registered and she stopped thrashing and fell back against the bed. She didn’t realize she was crying until he wiped tears off her cheek. “You’re safe baby.” She turned her head. Demon was kneeling beside her bed. One of his hands brushed her hair back from her face, the other held her cheek, his thumb brushing tears away as they fell. She swallowed, her eyes closed with the effort. Her head, a dull ache, throbbed when she tried to shift. “Clancy?”