Free NocC 027 - Michele Hauf - Wicked Games 07 - Claiming the Wolf - Harlequin 2012-11 by Nocturne Page B

abruptly blocked her from his mind. The last
thing he wanted to associate with banishing was the soft and lovely woman who
had stolen his heart.
    “Begin!” Remy commanded.
    The first set of talons slashed Hart’s back, carving into his
flesh and nicking bone in the process. The wolfsbane the wolves would carefully
dip their talon tips into burned like acid. He grit his molars and growled,
fighting to contain a yell. Nothing in his life had hurt worse.
    The second wolf stepped forward to deliver another knee-bending
blow. Hart huffed and clutched the iron bar so hard, it bent. Another, and
another. By the ninth talon, his blood spilled down his back and soaked his
jeans. The wolfsbane felt like fire from Hell.
    The final wolf, the pack principal, stepped beside Hart.
Huffing and panting, Hart lifted his head proudly and met his former leader’s
gold, wolfish eyes with his own. Caufield slashed his talons across the back of
Hart’s head, forward over his ear and neck, and drew it out through his
cheek.
    Releasing the bent iron bar, Hart fell to his knees and caught
his palms on the floor puddled with his blood.
    *
    The day after Danni had been rescued from the pack
compound by Hart, she paced the floor of her apartment before the patio doors.
Outside rain pummeled the city, and she was thankful for the lack of sun—and she
was not. Rain reminded her of making love with Hart. Would they ever be so close
again? It had been over twenty-four hours since he left her for his
banishment.
    “Where is he? He doesn’t answer his phone. They’ve killed him,
I know it.”
    Clutching her fists to her chest, she felt what must have been
the thousandth tear fall across her cheek and regretted ever wishing she could
cry. She needed to know Hart was alive. If he didn’t ever want to see her again,
she would have to deal, but she couldn’t begin to get over him until she knew he
was safe.
    She couldn’t return to the compound. That would be suicide. She
couldn’t contact her tribe because Hart had told her to stay away from them.
He’d made it clear to Slater he was to stay away from her and David. Yet her new
freedom came at an insurmountable price.
    Over and over this morning, she’d gone through possible
scenarios for banishing. It could not be good, certainly not pleasant, and
definitely painful.
    “Oh, Hart, please be safe.”
    At the very least, alive. The pack wouldn’t kill him for
something she had done to him, would they?
    They kidnapped vampires and forced them to fight to the death,
of course they would be sanguine about killing one of their own.
    On the kitchen counter sat a mixing bowl and inside of it, two
uncracked eggs. She’d briefly considered going through the mundane motions that
usually made her feel better. But really? Not this time. Brownies were not going
to save her man.
    A knock on the door set the hairs on her body straight up.
Danni ran and opened it to find Hart standing there, his grin slightly crooked,
but he was smiling.
    She leaped into his arms, wrapping her legs about his waist and
hugged him tightly. Cheek pressed against his neck he felt warm and inviting.
Alive.
    He walked inside and closed the door behind them, leaning
against the wall, not letting her go, and whispering gentle things like, “I
missed you. I’m here. I’m never going to leave.”
    “I thought you were dead.” She clung, unwilling to let go for
fear he might slip away. “You didn’t answer your phone.”
    “I needed to...heal a bit before I saw you. Danni, look at me.”
He set her on the back of the sofa, and only then did she finally look at his
face.
    His bright gray-blue eyes fixed to hers. His mouth was that
soft thickness she loved to feel pressed against her mouth, her skin. But there,
at the corner of his lips, the skin tugged toward his cheek. And she traced the
thick, angry scar slashed from mouth, across his cheek, over his ear, and
cutting through the side of his skull. Another dashed his jaw, red and