“Oliver…” she rasped, shifting her weight toward the car door. “You need to let me out of here.”
Again, Oliver looked at her, his fair complexion darkening to something evil and sinister that Lora had not noticed before.
That’s not true, she corrected herself. I did notice before. That was why I tried to escape Oliver. He tracked me down.
In a torrent, the last year of Lora’s life came washing over her like a tsunami. The early days of working at Weaver Lighting when Oliver had tried to charm her into dating. She thought of the reports to HR and the ultimate police reports she had to file because he wouldn’t leave her alone. In her mind’s eye, Lora could see herself deleting her online presence and moving from her charming two-bedroom house in Taos to Colorado to escape him.
“I’m sorry, Ma’am but he hadn’t really done anything,” one bored-sounding cop told her. “He just has a harmless crush.”
“I understand how scary this might seem to you,” another female officer said sympathetically. “But without any evidence that he’s a real threat, there’s not much I can do.”
For months, Lora had moved around, looking for an escape from Oliver, but in the end, he had always known where to find her.
Now she understood why.
“I see you’re getting your memory back,” Oliver commented dryly. “I wasn’t sure how long it would take or if it would ever really return.”
“I’m not going to tell anyone anything,” Lora said, her voice wavering with the promise. “You just have to let me go, okay?”
Oliver frowned.
“I’m not letting you go, you dumb bitch. I’ve torn the state upside down looking for you. I turned you so you can be with me forever. Why would I let you go?”
Fear, coupled with anger, twined through Lora’s veins.
“Why would you do such a thing to me?” she spat. “What gave you the right to turn me?”
The car slowed slightly, and Oliver seemed to relax, his gaze fixing more on her than on what he had left behind him.
“I did you a favor. See, that’s your problem, Lora. You’ve always been ungrateful. I have done so much for you, and you just complain.”
Lora swallowed thickly, her mind racing as she looked out onto the highway. If she jumped, she risked hurting herself and being picked up by Oliver again.
But I’m a wolf now, she thought with renewed hope. Shifters heal fast…don’t they?
Along with her personal memories, the recollections of what the shifters were also filled her mind. She thought of Tav and his dragon body, searching for her in the mountains as she wildly tried to escape. Shame and regret shot through her.
Why didn’t I just listen to him? He was always trying to help me, and I pissed that away! Now it’s too late.
“Can you just slow down a bit?” Lora begged Oliver, her mind darting for an escape. “You’re going too fast, and it’s making me feel sick.”
“Yeah, right,” Oliver snickered. “You think I don’t remember what a slippery cow you’ve been? If I slow down, you’ll try to make a break for it.”
Lora felt her jaw tighten, but she didn’t deny his accusation. All she wanted was to be free of Oliver, and if he wouldn’t slow down on his own, she would have to ensure he did it against his will.
Without another word or warning, Lora willed herself to shift. At first, she didn’t feel as if anything was happening, but all at once, her teeth bared to reveal the razor-sharp row of fangs. Oliver’s eyes popped as he realized what she was doing, but before he could react, she pounded on him.
The Fiat swerved to the right, almost taking on a semi, but somehow, Oliver managed to keep control. The vehicle stayed on the road as Lora’s brown paw touched the window release. A blast of wind shot through the car, and Oliver struggled to contend with the incensed wolf he had created without crashing the car.
With a final gnash of her teeth, Lora sprang out the driver’s side window, tail whipping Oliver in the face. Pain shot up through her body as she landed in the shoulder, her ankle crunching slightly with the impact, but she didn’t stop to consider her broken bone. She knew she had mere minutes before Oliver pulled over and was on her trail again.
She had to run.
Unfortunately, the terrain was flat and open, making her an easy mark for a desperate man, but that did not slow Lora’s gait for a second. Despite the searing agony in her leg, she sprinted across the landscape, not looking back.
Suddenly, she felt the shadow of the predator around her.
Don’t stop! She told herself, urging herself forward. If I’ve escaped him once, I can do it again.
His hot breath made her skin crawl, his momentum gaining on her until Lora knew that there was nowhere to hide. She spun to confront him.
Oliver lunged, but as he did, a shadow befell them both. Lora’s lithe frame crashed to the desert floor, her eyes trained to the sky where an ebony mass blotted out the skyline.
Tav!
But Oliver was too consumed with his own rage to notice their company, his face alight with fury.
“You’re becoming more trouble than you’re worth,” he hissed, moving to sink his teeth into her jugular. From somewhere inside her, Lora found her last bit of brute strength and shoved Oliver’s weight from her, watching him as he landed in shock a few feet away. He leapt to his feet to attack again, but it was too late. His enraged frame erupted into a mass of flames, the lick of fire endless as Tav sprayed him.
Lora watched in awe, the roar of the conflagration drowning out Oliver’s screams until there was nothing left but the crackling of fire on the desert floor.
Slowly, gracefully, Tav landed at Lora’s side, his eyes filled with wary concern as he neared her. She bowed her furry head in contrition, blood rushing in her ears as she realized just how close she had come to losing it all again.
“Are you all right?” Tav asked, keeping a safe distance between them, shifting back into the attractive man who had saved her twice now. Unable to speak, Lora also morphed into her mortal flesh and rushed toward him, throwing her arms around his neck.
“Yes,” she breathed. “Thanks to you.”
Cautiously, Tav allowed his own muscled arms to fall around her waist, and they held onto one another for a long, silent moment, their hearts beating in wild unison.
“I’m so sorry,” she finally managed to mumble, drawing back to stare at him in dismay. “I was…I was so confused, so out of it.”
Tav smiled in his patient way, the sight flooding Lora’s heart with affection.
“You’re not confused anymore? Not out of it?”
She shook her head.
“No,” she replied earnestly. “I remember everything now, everything he’s done to me. He was stalking me. We used to work together, and he wouldn’t leave me alone. I did everything to get away from him.”
She paused to catch her breath, eying the sizzling wolf, now a pile of ashes where he had once stood. The sight of him made her shudder but not because of what had been done to him. The recollection of all he had done to her sent shivers of revulsion through her.
“It doesn’t matter now,” Tav told her sincerely, sensing her anger as he pulled her tightly against him. “He won’t be bothering you or anyone else again.”