Boundless

I suddenly wished we hadn’t shown ourselves. The animosity that had been focused on the girl and the male wolf suddenly grappled onto us. The nicely dressed man still wore his sickening smirk and though he’d been caught off guard, it seemed as if he enjoyed this twist of events.

Dominick, ever the Alpha, spoke with his chin lifted and his voice booming with supremacy, gesturing towards the two obvious captives. “What business do you have with them?”

Everyone flinched away from Dominick’s tone. Even the young, male pup ducked his head in submission. This I found odd. My mind worked in puzzlement at the realization that Dominick could speak to any wolf anyway because of his position as Alpha. It was clear that Dominick was Alpha over his Den back home but he clearly didn’t know these wolves. How could his Alpha command affect them if they weren’t apart of his pack? How had they affected me that first day in the woods?

The man recovered quickly, seemingly upset that he’d been affected by Dominick. “What business is it of yours?” the man countered with a sneer.

“I am an Alpha, it is my born duty to protect our kind.”

“How noble of you.” the man chuckled darkly.

“This is not about me or my characteristics. Release these two.” Dominick ordered, ignoring the man’s jab.

The man gave a boisterous laugh filled with what appeared to be honest amusement. “You make bold demands wolf” he mocked, “demands to which you have no control over…Alpha or not.”

Dominick’s body went stiff with fury. The man was clearly telling him that releasing the girl and male wolf would be out of the question. I glanced at Vince who was intensely staring at the young wolf. The two were discreetly projecting. “What’s he saying?” My voice was breathy and light, barely audible to anyone but Vince.

Vince’s eyes flickered to me. “You were right. They are Rogues.”

My eyes flickered to the two wolves threatening the younger wolf then coasted back, landing on the man who stood over the girl. If they were Rogues, what did they want?

As if reading my mind, Vince answered my silent question. “The girl,” Vince’s mouth twisted in a loathsome grimace, “they want her for breeding.”

My chest rose and fell with steaming disgust. These Rogues were not only thieves and murders but rapist as well! I felt my fingers coil over as my hardened nails bit into my palm. My heart was beating something fierce and my ultimate need at the moment was to rip the throats out of the Rogues.

“Let them go,” Dominick demanded, “or deal with me.”

The man’s face immediately seeped towards the ground into a deep frown, disfiguring the scar’s straight line across his face. It was evident that Dominick’s words had sparked a challenge within the man. His shoulders rose to meet the challenge of Dominick’s tone and his eyes held malicious intent that was sure to fuel his next move.

Before my chest could fall again to release my next breath the man had hauled the girl off the ground with a quick tug and his knife was back at her throat, drawing blood. “You want her blood on your hands Alpha?!” the man’s voice rose with pure fury, an unstable being had found home in his eyes. “Turn and leave now, or she dies!” the man threatened, digging the knife further into the girl’s skin, underlining his unquestionable command, any more demands and he would kill her. “She dies, you hear me?! That what you want?”

The girl stayed completely stock still, her earlier bravery had long ago faded and all that could be seen in her face was fear of all that could happen in the next moment. The young wolf growled at the sight of the girl in the man’s life altering arms. It seemed as if in the moment that the blood spilled from the girl’s throat he grabbed hold of something inside of himself and lashed out at the wolves that were guarding him. His teeth clenched down on the Rogue closest to him bringing that one down to the brown earth. In seconds, the other Rogue jumped on him halting the young one's assault. Once the other Rogue regained himself and started in on the young one I knew there was no way he'd be able to take on them both.

The wolves ripped at the boy, immediately pulling the fight from him and giving him the position of victim. The young one went from biting fiercly at the two wolves, to clawing for his life, to.... lying complete still on the ground.

The girl seemed to forget about the knife against her neck as she called out, “No! Caleb!”

This had all happened in the time frame of a millisecond, and I felt as though I hadn’t even blinked. I locked my jaw in frustration. I had to do something—

“Take me!” a voice rang out, slipping into the tense air around us.

It wasn’t until I felt Dominick and Vince’s eyes reallocate to my frame, did I realized that the forceful, voice that penetrated the heated, forest air was my own. I schooled the surprised expression fighting to find a place on my face as I registered the irrational words that I just uttered. The courageous spirit that had flown so angrily threw me seconds ago was now placed with a pounding fear in my chest, sending only one word echoing through my mind,

'Shit.'

I felt Vince harden beside me, his wolf calling out for me though I hadn’t even left his side…yet. His hand immediately shot out to grip my forearm, a silent and firm No! slammed into my mind with such a fierce finality that I flinched at the sudden pressure.

“Clover no, don't—” Dominick started.

The man moved forward, a bemused look on his face. “Give yourself?” he gestured towards the girl in his arm and the young wolf, “for them whom you don’t even know?”

I nodded my head, no sign of wariness touching my face.

I attempted to pull my arm out of Vince’s hold. Yanking with all my might until his fingers no longer gripped my skin. But that was useless as both of his hands shot out again and gripped my shoulders turning me to him. His orbs fixed onto mine as he spoke, “I won’t let you do this.”

I shook my head at him. Though I hadn’t been in his presence long, of all people, I’d thought he’d understand that I wasn’t to be controlled. I placed my hands on his chest, my fingers almost beginning a journey of exploring all that was him, but I stilled them, pushing against him instead, causing him to release his grip on me. I glared at him, daring him to touch me again. “I don’t remember asking you.” I bit out before turning on my heel and facing the man.

“A trade?” the man spoke the word as if he were tasting different samples of wine, swishing it around in his mind as you would your mouth.

I nodded, locking eyes with Dominick. I was surprised he hadn’t thrown me over his shoulder and hauled ass out of the forest clearing. His face was stock straight, giving away nothing but his eyes…they questioned me.

'Trust me.' I projected quickly before turning towards the man and crossing the clearing.

“A trade.” I confirmed. “The girl goes with my friends and I…I go with you.”

The man’s crazy eyes roamed my frame, sizing me up. I was nowhere as gorgeous as the girl he had in his grasps. Where her black locks fell with even grace, my dirty blonde tufts had a mind of their own. Her green, cat like eyes beamed with openness while my brown orbs clouded with caution. I wasn’t an equivalent trade but I was hoping that the man would find something that pleased his eye. And those eyes…I gazed into those angry eyes...trying to soften my own to his liking. The man’s gaze was wary and accessing like he was on the brink of backing out. I had to do something to convince him…something.

As I neared the man he removed the knife from the girl’s throat toward me. “Stop right there, don’t come any closer.”

I ignored him, edging with caution towards the two, my eyes never leaving his.

“I said stop!”

And stop I did, my neck poking right into the knife’s cold blade, the girl’s blood dotting my skin. I placed my hand on top of his, caressing the base with my fingers. Gently, I placed my lips against his thumb, kissing it. Measurably but tenderly I did the same to his arm, working my way over the sleekness of his leather jacket. I paused once I reached the base of his throat, placing a sensual kiss on his neck. My wolf inwardly berated me, rejecting the man’s wolf that had suddenly became 'aroused'. This wave was new...no one had ever 'lusted' after me before. I ignored her, focusing all my attention on the man. My lips moved up his neck to the base of his chin until they landed on his lips.

A low growl seeped into the air and if my wolf’s guilty chill was any indication Vince was the one who was voicing his disapproval.

This time my wolf truly objected, going as far as to stir my insides introducing a want to vomit. I forced it back down just as the man dropped his hold on the girl, placing that arm around me. I heard her scurry away to somewhere I couldn’t see as my body was facing towards the man. The man’s warm tongue ran across my lips encouraging me to part them. I obliged, giving him access to all of my mouth, deepening the kiss. The hand around my waist slid down and cupped my butt, giving it a firm squeeze.

I fought the urge to knee “Gregory Grab Hands” in his God given organ.

Slowly, not breaking the kiss I reached beside us for the knife. The man had long ago lowered the threatening arm and it was hanging at his side. My fingers had just grazed the metal--

“A promising trade,” the man said as he snatched out of the kiss. In seconds my back was against his chest and his arm around my throat. “But I’m no fool, I’ve been running these woods since you all were swimming little possibilities.” The man tightened his hold on my neck, and air was suddenly harder to digest. I watched as Dominick’s jaw tightened and Vince started towards us. Dominick intercepted Vince, grabbing him and stopping his movement. I watched Vince's usually kind eyes light up in open ferociousness. “You were going to try and kill me weren’t you girl?” the man hissed into my ear.

I couldn’t answer even if I wanted to. The man’s arm was tight around my throat, pressing harder now. I was choking against his hold and my hands had came up to claw at his arm, my lungs searching desperately for any sign of natural air.

The growl that had seeped from Vince a minute ago had erupted into a thunderous sound and the human Vince before me Blinked in sudden rage. He was brown fur on four legs charging at us, his teeth bared…ready for a fight. At some point in time Dominck had Blinked as well, his white fur vivid against the green forest.

I squeezed my eyes tight against the desperation of air. Breathing wasn’t a choice anymore. My head was getting light and my vision blurry and sound had become nonexistent.

I just wanted this all to be over.

So I let the darkness take me into a quiet abyss of unconsciousness.