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  Smirking with far more bravery than she felt, she said, “So, are you Tanner, Tucker, Harvey or Logan?”

  The man balked and stuttered, the desired effect Amelia was hoping her question would have. The men weren’t expecting her to know who they were. They couldn’t kill her, not until Eli came to rescue her, so she had plenty of time to toy with them.

  “How to hell do you know who we are?” another voice asked.

  “Oh. I know everything about you. How much time do you have? I’ll give you the details.” Amelia was bluffing, but her creative skills honed from years of writing meant that she had a good enough imagination to keep this charade going for at least a few hours—more than enough time for Eli to get there and save her.

  Eli

  “Eli? Call for you on line two,” Gary, Eli’s assistant whispered in his ear. Eli was sitting in the second row from the stage, watching his players rehearse the most difficult scene of Romeo and Juliet: the death scene. They just weren’t putting enough drama, enough feeling into it, and it felt flat. Eli was tempted to ask Gary to take a message, but he knew it was Gary’s lunch break in five minutes and he didn’t want to force him to stay chained to his headset any longer than he had to. It had been a long, torturous morning.

  “Thanks. I’ll take it in my office,” Eli told Gary. He jogged up the stairs and through the backstage area, dodging a few errant actors rehearsing lines with each other. They smiled at him and went back to their work.

  Eli wasn’t sure who was on the line—he rarely got phone calls on his office phone anymore. Most of the prominent patrons and writers in the city had his cell phone number, and he knew Amelia was at an interview and would be busy until he saw her that evening, so it couldn’t be her.

  Picking up the phone, Eli sat in his chair and answered. “Hello?”

  The voice on the other line had obviously gone through one of those voice-scrambling devices since it sounded like a combination of Darth Vader and Voldemort. In any other situation, this would have been funny, but the words uttered down the line made Eli’s blood run cold. “We have Amelia. Meet us at Warehouse 47 in 45 minutes, or we bite her.”

  Eli didn’t even have to think before he was tearing through the exit door and into the parking lot. Thank God he’d parked close to the building today instead of his usual spot toward the back of the lot. He unlocked his car, jumped in, and sped toward the street, making it to the highway in just under two minutes. He knew where Warehouse 47 was, near the old storage units at the edge of town. It would take him at least twenty minutes to get there on a good day, and this was peak rush hour. But Eli had to make it. He sped the whole way there, thanking the powers that be that no police cars pulled him over for going what had to be at least thirty miles over the speed limit. He’d also caused a few near-accidents and done some dodgy left turn on reds near the end, but he made it to Warehouse 47 with five minutes to spare.

  The door to the warehouse was closed, and Eli ran toward it, not bothering to lock his car or even close the driver side door. He rushed at the entrance and banged his fists against the corrugated metal of the door, screaming, “I’m here! Let me in!” until his voice was hoarse. Finally, after was felt like fifteen minutes, the door began to slide up, and slowly, inch-by-inch, the faces of Logan, Harvey, Tucker and Tanner were revealed.

  “Well, well, well, if it isn’t Rich Boy, here to save his girl,” Harvey said, smirking.

  “Where is she? She better be okay, because if you’ve laid so much as a finger on her I’ll…”

  Tucker interrupted him. “Relax, relax, she’s fine. A bit of a smartass, but fine. We won’t hurt her.”

  Harvey harrumphed and cut Tucker off. “Yeah, we won’t hurt her, but you can’t see her until we’ve had a nice, long chat about how we’re finally going to settle things between us. It’s time we ended this battle.”

  While Harvey was talking, Tucker and Logan had snuck up behind Eli. They now grabbed him by the wrists, tying them together and, with effort, lifted him off his feet. Eli might have been lean, but he weighed at least 190 pounds, and the men struggled as they carried him to a lone chair in the middle of the deserted warehouse floor. They dropped him on the chair, and, once Eli had shifted until he was comfortable, he began speaking, try to reason with his fellow wolves.

  “Look guys, I know there’s been a rivalry for centuries between our packs, but I had nothing to do with it. It’s more than likely that at least part of that story about my ancestors stealing the fur pelts from you is true, but that was my ancestors, not me. I’m just a werewolf trying to lead a normal life, trying to be happy.”

  Logan scoffed. “Well that’s hunky dory for you, asshole, but while you’ve been hopping from one good job to the next, our pack has been floundering for decades. We’re all in massive amounts of debt, none of us can get well-paying jobs, and our pack leaders are slowly decaying in cheap, run-down retirement homes. We deserve a little payback, to equalize things. It’s only right.”

  “And what payback did you have in mind, exactly?” Eli asked.

  “Your money. All of it. Plus the land your uncle left you,” Harvey said.

  Eli balked. “My aunt still lives on that land! I can’t kick her out! It’s her home!”

  Tanner shook his head. “Doesn’t matter. We need it far more than she does. I’m sure she has somewhere else she can live out the rest of her years. I mean, she’s pretty old now, right? She must be close to dying soon, anyway.”

  Eli leaped out of his chair at that, the chair screeching to a halt behind him and tipping over. “Don’t you ever, ever, say anything bad about my family. They raised me when they didn’t have to, took me in and loved me like I was their own son. Be angry with me, fine, but don’t drag them into this. It’s bad enough that you’ve kidnapped Amelia. Leave the rest of my loved ones out of this stupid fight.”

  “Stupid? STUPID?!” Harvey shouted. “Is it stupid to feel like we’re lesser than lower class than your fancy pants pack our entire lives? Is it stupid to want the life we were entitled to? Your ancestors stole from us, and you’re their blood, therefore, by extension, you’re the reason we’re living in two-bedroom houses that are falling apart. You’re the reason our clothes are in tatters, our cars won’t start; no women will look twice at us. It’s all your fault, Eli, and you have to pay.”

  Harvey charged toward the back of the warehouse, the others following him. Eli started to run for them, but Tucker shoved him back. “Stay here. If you want to keep Amelia safe, it’s best if you don’t go back there. We’ll try and talk him down.” With that, Tucker ran off, looking back once to make sure Eli was staying put.

  Eli was momentarily confused that Tucker, who was supposed to hate him, was trying to help him, but he didn’t have time to dwell on that. He was too busy figuring out how he was going to get himself and Amelia out there alive.

  Amelia

  Amelia was sitting against the cold cinderblock walls of the warehouse’s office when the door banged open, smacking against the wall with a loud “BAM!” She was still blindfolded, but she could tell from the footsteps that Harvey was the one who’d entered the room. He sounded like an ogre when he walked, like he was wearing steel-toed combat boots filled with heavy rocks.

  “Get up,” he said, and Amelia complied, using the wall as leverage. Her hands were tied, so she had trouble balancing and nearly fell, but caught herself against a nearby chair, grasping its backing with her tied hands to steady herself. “Come with me.”

  Harvey then proceeded to drag Amelia by the knot between her hands, walking so quickly that she had to jog to keep up. Suddenly, he stopped, and Amelia ran into his hard, muscular back.

  “Ami.” Amelia heard Eli’s voice and did her best to peer through the scarf without being obvious. She could just make out the shape of Eli’s head and torso in front of her, and she wanted to cry with relief. He’d come to save her. He’d make sure she was all right. For all the bravado she’d put on earlier with the guys, she�
��d been scared shitless. She was so happy not to be alone anymore.

  Harvey grabbed Amelia by the waist and pressed her against his side. He wrapped her ponytail around his fist and tugged, baring her neck to him. “Either give us your entire fortune, bank account, land, everything, or I bite her. You know what’ll happen.”

  Amelia could hear Eli’s audible intake of breath. “Okay, okay, I’ll do it.”

  “No!” Amelia screamed, though it was muffled because of the cloth tied around her mouth. “You can’t! You can’t!”

  In the months that she and Eli had known each other, he’d told her what he did with the money he’d inherited from his uncle: half of it he’s gifted to his aunt to allow her to live out her life in the comfort she deserved, and the other half he’d invested in projects. Arts projects, to be specific. Eli was the main patron for an inner-city dramatic arts summer camp and a children’s ballet school, and donated 30% of his salary every year to the city’s endowment for the arts, ensuring that young and talented artists got the funds they needed to support their craft. He had very little money of his own—just enough to pay for rent, food, and bills. If he gave Harvey his account information, he’d have nothing. He’d be homeless because Eli wouldn’t stop donating to charity or his aunt, and the money he had leftover wasn’t nearly enough to live on. Vegas was expensive, and careers in the arts were notoriously low-paid, even for theater company directors.

  Amelia couldn’t let him sacrifice his philanthropy for her. She’d been reading up on werewolves, had had multiple chats with Will about them, and she was ready for this. Yes, the bite would be painful, and yes, she’d be changed forever, but she was more than happy to sacrifice her human self for love. Eli was worth it.

  “Bite me. Take your revenge on me, not him. He doesn’t deserve it. He doesn’t have any money—we can show you his accounts. Eli’s a patron of the arts, a philanthropist, and any money he has left over after he pays his bills goes to his aunt. They’re good, honest people. Leave them alone.”

  Everything went still after Amelia said this. She could almost feel the wheels turning in Harvey’s mind, trying to decide what to do. Eli was cursing under his breath, and Amelia could feel him about to voice his opposition to her plan when Harvey spoke. “Fuck, I can’t do this. I can’t ruin your life or your aunt’s or your girlfriend’s. Just, please, can you help us figure out how to piece our lives back together? That’s all I want. I’m tired of being angry. You seem to have figured out how to live a happy life, Eli. Can you teach us?”

  Eli gave an audible sigh of relief. “Of course, I can. Let Amelia go and we can sort it all out.”

  Harvey untied Amelia’s hands while Tanner and Tucker removed the blindfold and the cloth from her mouth. As soon as she was free, Amelia ran to Eli, collapsing into his arms with a sob. They clung to each other, both shedding tears of gratitude that they were safe. Amelia looked over Eli’s head and saw Harvey, Tanner, Tucker and Logan nodding at him, looking a little teary themselves.

  Eli

  Eli drove Amelia home carefully, trying not to wake her. She’d fallen asleep almost immediately upon crawling into the passenger seat, no doubt burnt out after all the drama of the last few hours. He drove them to her place because it felt like home. Eli’s homestead was a cold, sterile bachelor pad near the theater. He’d rented it furnished, and everything was black leather and steel. He hated it. Amelia’s apartment was full of color and light, packed to the gills with books, DVD’s, throw pillows and blankets. It was homey and perfect and her. They’d discussed moving in together recently, and after tonight, Eli was more than ready. He wanted nothing more than to go to bed each night Amelia tucked into his arms and wake each day to the sight of her smiling face.

  Amelia woke when Eli parked the car outside her apartment. “We’re home,” he whispered, and Amelia opened her eyes and smiled at him.

  Together, they walked slowly up the steps leading to her loft. They went straight to bed, shedding their clothes and crawling under the covers, pressing their naked bodies against each other, grateful that they were unharmed. Eli relished the feeling of Amelia’s perfectly smooth, silky soft skin against his.

  “God, I love the feel of you against me,” he whispered. Eli slowly ran his hands up and down her arms, across her breasts, and down her belly.

  Amelia shifted when he hit there, and Eli paused. “What, what’s wrong?

  “Does anything feel… different to you, on that particular part of my body?” Amelia was smiling wickedly, but Eli looked confused as he ran his palm up and down her abdomen. At first, he couldn’t tell the difference, but after his third time running his hand up and down her belly, he felt it. Eli’s eyes sparked with curiosity and hope as she looked at Amelia.

  “Is that…”

  “If you’re asking if that’s the subtle roundedness of a newly pregnant woman, then yes, Mr. Kingston, you are correct.”

  Eli sputtered. “You’re, you’re… you’re pregnant?!”

  Amelia beamed in response, nodding profusely as she leaned in and kissed him. The kiss was love and lust and happiness and relief all rolled into one, and Eli leaned into it, hungry for Amelia. His hand travelled from her belly down to the center of her thighs where soft blonde curls led him to the spot she loved for him to touch.

  Eli lavished her clitoris with soft, circular strokes, loving the way the touch made Amelia’s cheeks blush, her lips redden, her pupils darken with need. He could feel the wetness beginning to spring forth from her center, knew she was growing ready for him. And thank god, because Eli was hard, rock hard, his shaft pressing against Amelia’s stomach and leave a small trail of pre-cum from his head.

  “I need you,” Amelia whispered against Eli’s lips, but he wasn’t quite ready to be in her yet. First, he needed to taste her, get his fill of her delicious skin. Eli pressed a trail of kisses from her mouth down through her neck to her chest, his goal, because there, bared for only him to see, was the world’s most perfect pair of breasts. As Eli bent to capture one of the rosy tips in his mouth, he realized that Amelia had grown here. Her nipples were larger, her breasts hanging lower and fuller, and the sight of them increased his arousal.

  She was beautiful, glorious, and completely his, and Eli returned his attention to her nipples with gusto, licking them like the sweet candies they were. Amelia’s back arched with pleasure, even more so when Eli’s finger’s renewed their ministrations on her clitoris. With his mouth on her other breast, and one hand focused on her clitoris, Eli used his other to slide first one, then two fingers into the wetness of Amelia’s vulva.

  Amelia cried out, a wordless scream that told him to keep going, that she was nearly there, that she desperately needed, wanted to come. Doubling down on his efforts, Eli gently bit her nipple, rubbing her clitoris with one hand and thrust into her with the fingers of the other. It wasn’t long before Amelia was coming, pulsing and squeezing his fingers as she came down from her bliss.

  She lay on the bed, spent, red and panting. “Now. I need you in me,” she whispered, her eyes locked with Eli’s. He had no choice to oblige. Seeing her come apart that way had nearly sent him over the edge, but Eli never liked to come unless it was when he was seated deep in his love. Rising onto his knees, Eli straddled Amelia, running his hands over the curve of her hips as he pulled her toward him. He slowly, slowly drew into her, his cock burying itself in her sweet wetness until they were one mind, one body, one love, and then he started moving.

  Thrust after exquisite thrust, Eli buried himself in his one true love, and Amelia cried out with each one, until Eli couldn’t help himself. As Amelia squeezed and pulsed around him, this time around his cock, Eli fell apart, coming inside her and collapsing onto her, their mouths glued together, their hearts beating in tandem.

  Later, they lay side to side, their foreheads turned toward each other and their eyes closed. “I love you,” Eli whispered.

  “And I love you, my wolf,” Amelia whispered back. They fell asleep, bo
th safe, in love, and with Eli’s hand wrapped protectively around Amelia’s growing middle.

  FIN

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