Sara Humphreys: Unclaimed

With her heart thundering in her chest, Tatiana crept toward the waiting area of her office. She nudged the swinging door open a crack, peered into the innocuous-looking room, and to her relief, found it empty. Tatiana slipped through the door, opening it only enough so she could sneak through. She padded silently to the front doors. She pressed her body against the wall next to the door, avoiding the windows.

Shaking with fear and adrenaline, she shut her eyes and focused on the area around the building. Her gut instinct was to send her energy signature in search of the others, but she worried that might be like sending a fucking bat-signal to Eric, alerting him to her location. Tears stung her eyes, but she pressed the heels of her hands against them, refusing to cry.

Tatiana didn’t know what to do.

The woods were quiet. Unnaturally quiet—even the animals seemed to be holding their breath, waiting to see what would come next. Her hand lingered on the doorknob as she debated about what the hell she should do. She had to do something because sitting in here waiting had to be worse than dealing with whoever was out there head-on.

Tatiana’s hands were sticky with blood and slick with sweat as her fingers slid on the knob, but her heart skipped a beat when she felt it move. Someone was trying to come inside, and based on the energy, it was a human man. Caedo?

Tatiana scrambled across the room and hid under the receptionist’s desk. She pulled her knees to her chest and held her breath, praying that whoever it was would find the room empty and leave.

With heart pounding in her chest and sweat covering her quivering body, she waited. She covered her mouth with one hand to keep from crying out as the distinct sound of the door opening broke the silence. Tatiana held her breath, worrying that even that small sound would alert her hunter. The footsteps of someone creeping slowly across the room echoed, and she thought she would go crazy as she waited, praying for the man to leave.

“Come out, come out, wherever you are,” he sang.

The squeak of the exam room door opening and closing gave her hope. As quietly as possible, she crawled out and peered around the desk. Whoever it was had gone into the exam room and left the front door open.

Finding her courage, Tatiana rushed to her feet and ran out the door.

“There she is,” he shouted.

Tatiana leapt from the steps, and as her bare feet hit the pine-needle-covered ground, her eyes flickered to their clan form. A growl erupted as she pictured her clan form, and in an explosion of static, Tatiana erupted into her timber wolf.

With a lower center of gravity and the power of four legs instead of two, she raced into the tree line with gunshots ringing out behind her. The heat of a bullet whizzed by her head as she ducked behind a massive tree. As her paws skidded on the thick bed of needles, the bone-shattering roar of a big cat filled the air.

Tatiana spun around to see Richard in his lion form as he leaped onto the man and tackled him to the ground. The gun went off as it skittered out of his hands and across the ground. Richard’s massive tawny body stood over the man as he sank his teeth into the man’s neck, crushing his windpipe and silencing him forever.

Relief flooded Tatiana, and she ran out of the woods toward the prince. His large, muscular feline body was covered in splattered blood, and he was breathing heavily.

Got you, you son of a bitch . Richard stalked toward her but stumbled and fell onto his side. Caedo assassins. Eric was working with them.

Dominic? Her mind reached out to his, but he didn’t answer or couldn’t. She wasn’t entirely sure which. Tatiana trotted up to Richard and whined as she nuzzled his massive head with hers. Where’s Dominic?

Tatiana pictured her human form, and seconds later she shifted. She knelt next to the prince and inspected the two gunshot wounds, one at his shoulder and the other had grazed his head.

“How touching.” Eric’s voice chilled her to the bone. “Decided to play on Team Amoveo, after all?”

Richard growled, but he was clearly in no shape to go anywhere or do any more fighting. Tatiana squatted on her heels and turned to face Eric with her hands in the air, a clear sign of surrender.

“Where’s Dominic?” she asked in a surprisingly steady voice.

“Dead.” Eric’s voice was void of emotion, but it hit Tatiana the same as if he’d punched her in the stomach. “William too. Well, I think he is. I pinged his sorry ass mid-flight, so I’ll go find him to be sure.”

“No,” Tatiana whispered. Her eyes filled with tears, and nausea swamped her as her body shook uncontrollably. “He—he can’t be dead. I don’t believe you.”

“Believe what you want.” Eric shrugged. “It’s all the same to me. I get paid based on the body count, and as of now, I’m up to three. Well, four, once I kill you, but the prince over here—he counts as two. That’s the big payday right there.”

“Payday?” she asked with confusion. “The Purists are paying you?”

“Purists?” he scoffed. “Those assholes don’t have money. Shit, they’re all pretty much gone now, and thanks to them so is my mate.” His features darkened, and he stalked toward her, his yellow clan eyes glowing brightly as he grabbed Tatiana’s arm and yanked her to her feet. “My mate died in that fucking breeding program because Richard didn’t get there in time to get her out.”

“So it’s about revenge?” She licked her lower lip and glanced to the woods, praying by some miracle Dominic would appear. “Not Purists or Loyalists?”

Keep him talking, she thought. Just keep him talking, and buy time until Pete or the others get here. Kerry said she’d send help, but if they didn’t get here soon, it would all be over. She kept her eyes locked with his, but the cold, flat look on his face chilled her to the bone. He was emotionless, barren of empathy, and locked solely on his mission.

“I’m not a Purist, baby. I’m an opportunist.”

“But—these are your people?” she said in disbelief. “Your friends.”

“Oh please. They don’t give a holy shit about anything but their women. I’ve got no mate. I’m fucked, lady. In about a year, I’m gonna be without my powers, so I figured if I have to live my life as a human, I may as well be rich.”

“Money? You did this for money?”

“When I cornered that Caedo assassin at the ranch, he offered me a big payday to let him go. I took the offer. We made it look good though. I let him shoot me and everything.” Eric’s grin broadened, and he pulled her up against him, dropping his voice low. “Then, they offered me ten times that to kill the prince and any others I could get,” he murmured. “Well, why the fuck not. I screwed with the horses to mess with Richard’s head, and it worked. Your boy Matt overheard me talking on my cell phone with the Caedo. Couldn’t very well let him go blathering back to you, now could I?”

“Let her go, Eric.”

Dominic’s voice washed over her like a soothing balm, and as ridiculous as it could be, she laughed with relief. Eric growled as his eyes glowed brighter. He spun around, his fingers digging into Tatiana’s arm as he held her in front of him. She stilled as he pressed the cool steel of the gun against her temple.

“I thought you were dead.” Eric let out a curt laugh. “I should’ve known you were too fucking stubborn to die.”

Wounded and bleeding from the chest and his left leg, Dominic limped toward them with his arms out to his side. He kept his glowing amber eyes on Eric as he stepped closer. Tatiana had no idea how he could be on his feet given the amount of blood that covered him. She hoped it wasn’t all Dominic’s.