Soul Bonded

chapter TWELVE



Katie flung open the guest room door, slamming into Rafe as soon as she ran into the hallway. He caught her in impossibly strong arms and held her against his bare chest, and she buried her face in his neck before she could remind herself that she shouldn’t. He tightened his embrace, then smoothed a hand over her hair and shushed her panicked breathing.

“Someone’s outside.” Katie clutched at Rafe’s shoulders, battling a mixture of gratitude and embarrassment about how effortlessly his touch soothed her. “I saw two of them.”

Rafe pulled her into his bedroom and closed the door after ushering Shilah inside. “I want you to hide in the closet. Do you know how to shoot?” Before she could process the question, he had pressed a large revolver into her grip. “Katie, do you know how to use this?”

“I…” The gun looked strange in her hand, and holding it made her feel like a child again. Her father had taught her to shoot a .22 when she was eight years old, but this was the first time she’d handled a weapon since high school. “Yes.”

“Good.”

Of course, taking out soda bottles perched on fence posts hadn’t exactly prepared her to face murderous werewolves. Frightened and years past her last round of target practice, she had no faith in her ability to protect herself. Rafe, on the other hand, seemed calm and in control. He was probably a good shot, too. “Don’t go. Please.”

“I have to check it out.” He nudged her toward the closet. “Get in there. Be quiet, no matter what you hear. Shilah will stay in the bedroom with you, and I promise he’ll give you plenty of warning if anyone comes in who isn’t me. If they manage to open the closet door, I want you to shoot them. In the head.”

The thought made her sick to her stomach. “You’ve got silver bullets in this thing, right?”

“What?” Rafe paused, then chuckled. “No.”

Feeling a little stupid, Katie stumbled on her way through the closet door. “Another myth?”

“Yeah. Katie, hey.” He took her by the shoulders and turned her around. “I’m not going to let anything happen to you. I promise.”

Tears welled and threatened to spill over. She didn’t want anything to happen to Rafe, either. There was no reason why she should care so much about a man she just met—no reason except the bond he’d created between them. The pain in her chest at the thought of letting him walk into danger was so staggering it convinced her to set aside the anger that wasn’t doing her any good, anyway. Katie wrapped her arms around Rafe’s shoulders and brushed her lips over his in a quick but intimate kiss. “You come back to me. Okay?”

He gave her a gentle squeeze. “I will.” Startled by something she couldn’t hear, Rafe cocked his head. Shilah mirrored the pose beside him, eliciting an unthinking smile. It faded when Rafe walked her backwards into the closet, tension written all over his face. “Hide, Katie. Now.” He reached for the gun as he guided her into the back corner. “Safety’s off.” Ready to fire, he pointed the gun at the floor and handed it back to her. “We’ll both be fine.”

He shut the door and left her in the dark. Katie blinked, waiting for her eyes to adjust, and leaned back against the row of shirts that hung behind her. She held the gun in both hands, ready to bring it up and pull the trigger the moment Shilah alerted her to an intruder. She said a quick prayer that she would be able to aim and fire under pressure. Despite being a Civil War buff and battle reenactment aficionado, her father had never prepared her for an actual life-or-death situation.

At first there was only silence. She couldn’t hear anything outside her hiding place—not Rafe, not their enemies, not even the sound of Shilah’s breathing as he stood guard. The darkness was oppressive and heavy like a thick, woolen blanket, making it hard to breathe. She fought against a wave of claustrophobia that urged her to throw open the closet door for just one whiff of fresh air. It would be a mistake and she knew it. Rafe had told her to stay hidden and shoot to kill if discovered. She sensed that her survival depended upon doing exactly as he said. Perhaps even more than that, she wanted to prove to him that she was trustworthy. That she wasn’t the type of person to run off and get herself killed by being stupid.

Even if recent events suggested otherwise.

A muffled shout raised the hair on Katie’s arms. She held her breath and strained to hear, uncertain whether it had been Rafe’s voice or someone else. Shilah whined anxiously, drowning out everything else for long, tense seconds. After Shilah quieted, the same voice was audible but he spoke too softly for her to make out any words—yet somehow she knew it was Rafe. Another voice answered, deeper and booming. She couldn’t understand anything the newcomer said before a loud crash shook the walls around her. Her mind conjured up a vision of a body falling heavily against furniture. Without knowing who had been attacked, Katie wasn’t sure if she should be horrified or relieved. A wave of nausea rolled over her, then a dull pain throbbed in her stomach.

When you hurt, I feel pain. Oh, God. Katie clapped her hand over her mouth and fought not to vomit. Deep in her soul, she knew that Rafe was the one who’d been hit. She put her hand on the door without thinking, but stopped herself from turning the knob. Though her body urged her to go to Rafe, she knew that wasn’t what he wanted. She also knew that she was no match against someone who could knock down a man of Rafe’s size.

The man with the deep voice spoke again, and Rafe answered. Katie sagged in relief at the knowledge that he was conscious. Maybe there was still hope. Maybe he would gain the upper hand. She raised the gun and pointed it at the closet door, in case he didn’t.

The bedroom door opened and Katie’s legs turned to jelly at the sound of Rafe’s tense voice. “Katie, it’s me. Put down the gun and come on out.”

She hesitated. Something wasn’t right. Nothing about what Rafe had said before he left the bedroom had prepared her for the possibility that he would return and ask her to put down her weapon. She wasn’t sure whether she should do as he said, continue hiding, or come out with her gun blazing.

As though sensing her internal debate, Rafe said, “It’s okay. A couple of my pack mates dropped by for a chat. That’s all.” He hesitated, then said, “Nobody will hurt you. I promise.”

Aware that staying in the closet forever wasn’t exactly an option, and too afraid to emerge shooting, Katie slowly opened the door and poked her head out. Rafe stood between two men, both of them bigger than him, with blood running from a cut below his eye. The man to his left, powerfully built yet smaller than his companion, boldly appraised her T-shirt clad body as she emerged from her hiding place. Then he smirked. “You heard him, little girl. Drop the gun.”

She would recognize that voice anywhere. Cooper. Confused, she glanced at Rafe, who gave her a subtle nod. Putting all her trust into her bond-mate, Katie set the gun on the nightstand beside the bed. The man who hadn’t yet spoken, who was bigger and older and somehow more primal than either Rafe or Cooper, pointed at the bed. “Sit.”

There was the deep, booming voice she’d heard before. She assumed that meant he was the one who’d hit Rafe. Too afraid to push her luck in a room full of seemingly hostile werewolves, Katie sat on the edge of the mattress without argument. The big man gestured for Rafe to join her on the bed and, to her surprise, he obeyed with a silent nod. He sat close enough that their thighs touched, calming her racing heart without even seeming to try.

Cooper greeted Shilah with a pat on the head while the deep-voiced man stared at her and Rafe for the span of several anxious breaths. Katie sat ramrod straight, unsure whether to let down her guard. As far as she knew, these were Rafe’s friends. But despite the expressionless look on Rafe’s face, he radiated uneasy fear. Acting on instinct, Katie took Rafe’s hand and placed it in her lap, lacing their fingers together. If they were going to die, neither of them should feel alone.

The deep-voiced man’s gaze fell on their joined hands. He frowned. Then he stared hard into Katie’s eyes. “So I hear we’ve got ourselves a human problem.”