Free Taken by the Beast by Natasha Knight Page B

them into his mouth.
    “Let’s clean up and get to bed.”
    “Are you going to tie me up when you go tomorrow?”
    “I haven’t decided.”
    “I’d really like it if you wouldn’t. I promise I won’t go anywhere and I’ve been good.”
    “For a few hours.”
    “And I’ll be good for the next few hours.”
    “While you’re sleeping?”
    She shrugged a shoulder, smiling. “Sure.”
    He smiled back. “We’ll see. You do the dishes.”
    “Ugh,” she said, standing to help clear the table.
    When she was finished, she noticed he’d taken a pillow and some blankets to the couch.
    “You get the bed,” he said. “I’ll take the couch.”
    “OK,” she said. “Goodnight, then.” She couldn’t help feeling disappointed as she made her way into the bedroom alone.
     
    * * *
     
    She was running barefoot through the woods, dressed once again in her worn yoga pants and tank top. It was nighttime, but the forest wasn’t quiet. Her feet hurt as they crunched on dead leaves, pine needles, twigs, and rocks. Clouds covered the moon, but when the wind moved them, she could make out the shiny eyes of the dogs behind her. It was like a movie, the men gripping the leashes of the crazed animals, hunting her.
    She panted, exhausted, each breath drawing in the scent of death, of fire, of burning flesh. But it wasn’t only that. It was also the scent of blood. She couldn’t make out whether she was running toward or from the women’s screams and she swore she could hear the sound of tearing flesh.
    She stumbled then, and fell to her hands and knees. A sharp cut had split the bottom of her foot and the forest floor sucked in the seeping blood. Standing was impossible, but she had to go on.
    They came on her then, the dogs, the hunters. One held a rifle aimed at her chest. She anticipated the impact, and when he pulled the trigger she closed her eyes, waiting for it. But it wasn’t she who got shot. It was Elijah. She looked at him as he lay dying. Even in wolf form, his golden eyes were tender, human.
    “Take the girl,” one of the men said.
    Hands closed over her arms and lifted her, dragging her from him. She looked down, at herself, at her swollen belly and when she turned to him again, he lay still, his eyes closed. The thing inside her moved, shifted, grew. Warmth spilled down her legs and the men released her. She screamed when the first wave came on, pain splitting her in two as the beast inside her tore its way into the world.
     
    * * *
     
    “Kayla! Open your eyes, Kayla. Look at me. You’re safe, it was just a dream.”
    Her hands were fisted on his chest, sweat and tears smearing her face and body. She screamed once more and he held her tighter, shaking her once.
    “Shhh. You’re having a nightmare. Open your eyes, Kayla.”
    He forced her to look at him, holding her, soothing her until she calmed.
    “What did you dream?” he asked.
    She shook her head. “I don’t remember,” she said.
    He knew it was a lie.
    “Stay with me,” she said.
    He lay her back down and tucked himself around her, holding her fast. He watched her until her breathing was once again even and she slept. He didn’t let go of her, but didn’t close his eyes again that night.

Chapter Nine
     
     
    He didn’t go into town the next day and he didn’t leave her alone for the next week-and-a-half. Kayla was grateful, finding herself more rattled from the dream than she should be. It was just too real, too terrifying. The thought of Elijah dead scared her like nothing in her life ever had, and she hadn’t even begun to deal with the other part of the nightmare.
    “We’re out of supplies. I have to go into town today,” he said one morning.
    “I will come with you,” she replied, picking up the last dish in the sink. There wasn’t a dishwasher so she was hand-washing the dishes, something she would never grow accustomed to.
    “Can’t take a chance, Kayla. We’re safe here and I don’t want to go on the run with