chapter 5
Even though Shane was behind him, Colton felt the wolf’s arm rise up. Pain shot through even nerve in his body as the heavy chain blasted down onto his back. At least ten blows rained down on his back. Colton heard bones cracking in the backside of his ribcage. There was a brief pause and then the blows began again, this time on his right arm and the right side of his body. Colton’s shoulder dislocated as his body, still in the restraints, was jerked around from the force of the blows. His right forearm snapped, the bone sticking out of his arm. Shane kept moving in a slow circle around Colton and the anger and complete hatred that Colton saw in Shane’s eyes when he moved to the front side and beat the chain against Colton’s chest told Colton that this hell was far from over.
Colton’s left knee buckled when his leg broke and that was when the beating ended, but only because Shane was exhausted and couldn’t lift the chain anymore. Shane’s chest was heaving as he walked up to Colton and yanked his head back, forcing him to lock eyes with him, “You’re seriously hurting, aren’t you vamp? Your body is crying for blood to help it heal, isn’t it? If I locked you in here with a human, nothing would be able to stop you from draining that human completely, would it?”
Somewhere in the back of Colton’s foggy brain came the realization of what Shane was going to do, “Dear God, please don’t,” he rasped through swollen, bloodied lips.
Shane smiled an evil grin as he began to unlock Colton’s restraints, “F*ck you, vamp,” he spat as he unlocked the final handcuff. Colton stumbled forward and tried to take a swing at Shane. Shane laughed and pushed him to the ground. He placed his foot on Colton’s chest to hold him down as he grabbed the waistband of Colton’s pants and tore them off of his body. “Sexual urges will increase your bloodlust, won’t they, vamp?” he said as he walked to the door.
Colton cringed when he heard her struggling with the guard outside the door. A moment later she was shoved into the room, restrained by the wrists in Shane’s tight grasp. She looked over at Colton’s bloody, beaten body. “Oh my God, what did you do to him? You f*cking animal,” she said as she tried to break free. Shane turned her so that she was facing Colton, her back pressed tightly to Shane’s front. Shane’s hand slowly traced up her torso. He grabbed her dress at the neckline, and tore it from her body, leaving her completely naked. “What the f*ck are you doing, Shane?” she shrieked.
He whispered into her ear, “You want him? You can have him, bitch,” then he pushed her farther into the room and walked out.
“NO!!” Colton yelled as he heard the locks click into place.
Tess took one step towards Colton. “Stop!” he hissed as he dragged his broken body as quickly as he could into the far corner of the room. He turned around with this back to the wall, pulling his knees up to hug himself. “Don’t come anywhere near me Tess. I’ll kill you if you do.” Colton just happened to glance over at her as he said it, and he groaned. God she was beautiful. He wanted her, even broken and in pain, he wanted her. He squeezed his eyes shut, “Can you please sit down and cover yourself up? Having you naked over there isn’t helping me.”
Tess walked back to the wall and sat down, using her bent legs to cover her body. “I want to help you Colton. What can I do?”
“Just stay over there. No matter what happens, Tess, stay as far away from me as you possibly can,” he said as his vision blurred. The room started spinning. He fell onto his side as he passed out.
Colton’s eyes blinked open once, then twice. He tried to focus on his surroundings. The first thing he noticed was that Tess wasn’t on the other side of the room anymore. Good, he thought, they must have taken her away. The next thing he noticed was that he was warm, incredibly warm, and his head felt like it was on a nice, soft pillow. He concentrated and that was when his brain came fully awake. Tess was curled up behind him, her breasts pressing into his back as she slept, and her arm was under his head…with her wrist just inches from his mouth. He tried to push himself up with his one good arm, but his broken leg buckled underneath him. He crawled, using one arm and dragging his useless leg behind him down the wall, away from her. “Damn it Tess. I told you to stay away from me,” he sputtered as he tried to get himself under control and get his damn fangs to retract.
“You were shivering in your sleep, Colton,” she whispered as she sat up.
“What part of ‘no matter what happens’ did you not get? I’m dangerous to you right now, Tess. Deadly. If my fangs sink into any part of you right now I will not stop. There’s no ‘I might be able to stop’ here. There is only ‘I will not stop.’ Do you get it now? I will kill you, I can’t help it. My body’s instinct to heal is more powerful than anything else, including my feelings for you.”
Tess opened her mouth to apologize when there was a loud crash from somewhere in the house, followed by female screams, males yelling and wolves growling. Colton’s head whipped towards the door. “Shit,” he muttered, “Tess, get over here quickly.”
“I, I, I thought you told me to stay away from you,” she whispered.
“I did. But now I have to protect you.”
“From what?” she said as the fighting grew closer to their door.
“Hansen.”
“Hansen? He knows me. He won’t hurt me.”
“Hansen doesn’t know anybody when he’s in kill mode. Even me. Besides, he saw you betray me. In his mind you’re the enemy.”
Tess took a few tentative steps towards Colton. She watched as he struggled to control himself. She could tell by the bulge in his mouth that his fangs were down, she knew by the way that he squeezed his eyes shut that they were black. “I trust you, Colton,” she said as she took the final step to reach him, holding her hand out as she did. His eyes were still squeezed shut, so she gently touched his cheek. He reached up and grabbed onto her hand, pulling it away from his nose. “Help me up,” he mumbled. She moved one foot behind her to brace herself and then she pulled. He hissed in a breath as he pushed himself up on one leg. “Get us over to the corner. I want your back pressed into the corner as tightly as you can.”
Tess put his arm over her shoulder, wrapped one arm around his waist and began to move them slowly Colton groaned and hissed with each hop that he had to make. A loud crash somewhere down the hall made Colton’s head whip around. “Hurry, Tess,” he whispered. They increased their pace and finally reached the corner. Tess pressed her back into it as Colton moved his body in front of hers. He was able to use the wall next to him to slightly compensate for his broken leg. Tess watched, fascinated, as, despite the incredible amount of pain he must be in, every muscle in his body tensed as he prepared to do battle to protect her. “Wrap your arms around me and pull me in tight,” he said.
“But your ribs, they’re broken.”
“Don’t care. Just do it, Tess. Now.”
She did, trying to ignore the grunts of pain that Colton tried to hide. Their naked flesh was fused tightly, her breasts smashed against his back, his butt pressed into her belly, as the noises from the hall grew louder. Tess squeezed her eyes shut as she pressed her forehead into the back of his neck. “Whatever you do, don’t move and don’t make a sound,” he whispered. A moment later there was a loud crash as the door to their room flew off of its hinges.