Soul Bonded

chapter EIGHT



“Yours?” The biter laughed, then spat in Katie’s direction. She struggled to sit, desperate to escape from her frozen prison. “I found it first.”

“Actually, you didn’t. I found her a couple days ago.” Rafe met her eyes when she finally sat up. Naked and also fully aroused, he stood over the crumpled body of the blond man, blood staining the snow around his bare legs. The blond’s throat had been torn out and Rafe’s chin dripped with crimson. He pinned her with a hard look. “I simply misplaced her tonight.”

“Oh, well.” The biter twisted her hair in his fist until she cried out. “Finders, keepers. I thought your pack didn’t go for humans, anyway.”

“We don’t hunt them, no.” Disdain passed over Rafe’s handsome face. “We don’t kill them.”

“So then what do you care?” He dragged Katie up and held her against his naked thigh. “You want a turn after me? I can’t promise I won’t chew her up a little. I’ll leave her face, though. Keep her pretty for you.”

Rafe’s expression hardened. “You’re not going to touch her. In fact, I suggest you take your hands off her right now.”

The biter sniffed, staring Rafe down, then nodded at the body on the ground. “He dead?”

Rafe’s icy stare never wavered. “Yeah.”

“You killed one of your own kind for a human. Think your alpha will agree with that?”

“I’ll deal with my alpha.” Rafe took a step closer, never breaking eye contact with the biter. “Let Katie go. Now.”

“Katie?” The hand in her hair jerked sharply, bringing fresh tears to her eyes. “It has a name?”

Rafe lunged forward with a primal growl. “I said, let her go. She’s mine. Do you understand?”

The biter loosened his grip on her hair, surprise written all over his face. Staring at Rafe, he leaned in close and pressed his nose into Katie’s neck, inhaling deeply while she shuddered and tried to pull away. Laughter shook the biter’s powerful frame as he shoved her back into the snow. “With a human? That’s disgusting.”

“You know I’ll kill you if you touch her. Just like I killed your buddy.” Rafe stalked closer, openly appraising her body as he approached. “Is it really worth it?”

“You tell me.” The biter puffed up his chest and stepped away from where she’d fallen. The two naked men faced each other, squaring off. Incredibly, neither of them seemed affected by the cold. “Is she worth it?”

“She’s mine. That means I’ll die to protect her. Even if she is just a human.” Rafe ran his worried gaze over her bare skin, which had gone numb in the freezing wind. The reason for his fierce devotion was a mystery, one that should have unsettled her. Instead it made her feel safe. Protected. Her eyes met his. “Go take your friend’s body back to his mate, if he had one.”

“He does. A mate, and a son.”

Rafe cringed. “No one else has to die tonight. Just leave us. This was a misunderstanding, but now it’s over.”

The biter chuckled. “Oh, this isn’t over. Not at all.” With one last, dismissive glance at Katie, he walked over to his friend’s corpse and nudged it with his foot. “This murder won’t go unanswered. I promise you that.”

“He was going to rape and kill my bond-mate. Nobody will fault me for protecting her.”

Shivering at Rafe’s words, Katie gathered her torn clothing around her exposed body. His bond-mate? What the hell had happened while she was unconscious?

“We’ll see.” The biter loped toward Rafe, shooting him a stern sidelong glance as he passed. “Take your human slut and get out of here.” He paused in front of Katie and gripped his erection in his hand. “I’ll see you soon, Katie. Next time I’ll bring more friends. Hope you’re ready.”

Rafe moved between them, a flesh-and-blood shield. “Come back and I’ll kill you. All of you.”

“Good luck with that.” The biter winked and melted back into wolf form. He threw his head back and howled, then took off running through the trees.

As soon as he was gone, Rafe rushed to her side. “How badly are you injured?”

“I…” Katie’s head swam with everything that had just occurred. She didn’t know what was most disconcerting: the fact that werewolves existed, Rafe’s delicious nudity, or her desire to fall into his arms and let him protect her. “I’m not sure.”

He knelt in the snow, took her leg in his hands, and gave her a careful examination. “He bit you. I won’t know how badly until we get back to the cabin. Which we need to do immediately, by the way, before any more come.” He shoved the oversize boots back over her socks, which were soaked through and heavy.

She let Rafe help her to her feet, then fiddled awkwardly with her torn clothing. Modesty seemed ridiculous in this situation, especially since he’d already seen her naked, but it was the only thing she had left. Being treated like a piece of meat had stripped away her humanity; denying Rafe the right to see her body helped restore a tiny piece of what made her who she was.

“Here, put this on.” Rafe draped his coat over her shoulders and pulled it closed over her chest. “I’ll lead you back in wolf form. Someone took my boots, and my feet are starting to get cold.”

“I’m sorry.” Katie felt well and truly chagrined. “Rafe, I—“

“We’ll talk when we get back to my place. Until then, be quiet.” She tried not to stare at his perfect ass as he turned away from her. He glanced over his shoulder, catching her gaze. “Full moon tomorrow. The woods are crawling with my kind tonight.”

She shivered and limped after him. “Okay.”

He transformed into a wolf and stared at her with glowing eyes. She lowered her gaze and followed as he led her back over the faint path she’d made during her walk in. He trotted through the snow at a fast clip, stopping every few feet to wait for her to catch up. Her toes were like ice in the soaking wet socks, her legs hurt, and her mind raced with all she’d just learned. Werewolves were real. One of them was claiming her as his bond-mate, whatever that meant. She’d almost just died. And apparently the woods were teeming with wolfmen who could leap out and attack at any moment.

The trek back to the cabin seemed to take forever. She hadn’t realized she’d walked so far, and wondered whether she would have been able to find her way on her own. When a baleful howl echoed through the trees just as the cabin came into sight, she stumbled and caught herself on hands planted in the deep snow, then straightened and used one last burst of energy to run to the front door. Rafe made it there before she did, shifting back into human form and ushering her inside. He locked the door and stalked after her, anger evident in his every step.

Katie stopped just inside the door, not wanting to track water through the house. She was so cold. The pain in her legs worried her just as much as the imminent possibility of her murder by werewolves. She didn’t know whether she would make it through the night alive, and the one person who had shown her any kindness was furious with her.

She met Rafe’s steely gaze, breath quickening at the fire in his eyes. For better or worse, she was going to have to trust this man.

He really was the only chance she had.