Chapter 13: Retaliation (5)

Terror burned Sascha's blood when James cornered her against the wall. She had messy blonde hair, reddened eyes, and a face distorted in a grimace of anger and obsession.

"Hello darling, have you missed me?" He tightened his grip on her and Sascha felt her breath catch.

"Let me go, James," she spoke herself, trying to stay calm and not upset the asshole of her ex.

However, those were the wrong words to say.

"Never." She bared her teeth at him in a fierce, deranged grin. "You are mine, Sascha. I will not let you go. Never. I just have to teach you a lesson, a little one and you will learn, but first ... "

The grip around her throat gave way and Sascha coughed hard. She took a deep breath during his reprieve from her.

"You will tell me who she was." A handful of her hair was grabbed and the bastard threw her down hard. Her body hit hard and a bolt of pain arced through her nerve endings. "Tell me."

Fuck. Damn you, Brigette.

"I have no idea what you're talking about." She gasped in a hoarse, breathless voice.

The dirty traitor narrowed his eyes dangerously and Sascha trembled in fear.

"Oh no?" Then he hit her.

Pain exploded in the lower half of her. Sacha felt something rip inside her and bent forward from her. She vomited the contents of her stomach and curled up waiting for the wave of blows she knew would come. Once James started, he didn't stop for a while.

Damn, why didn't I put the bracelet on when I could? At the same time, as she thought this, the half-closed shutters on the window in her room exploded, the wood creaking against the wall. A growl echoed through the workshop, the kind of growl that augured certain death, the kind that would lift the hair on your body instantly.

Sascha raised her head. She knew that growl. Intimately, in fact. Her nightmare was back and she wore death on her face.

James hung helplessly, the toes of his boots barely touching the ground as the monster - who didn't look like a monster - clutched his neck. Darkness and death veiled the wolf's features.

"Don't kill him." She squawked as best she could.

The monster stopped and narrowed its eyes at her. Everything hurt Sascha, her punch seemed to have broken something and she felt like a warm liquid began to seep between her legs. For some reason, this terrified her.

"Please wolf. Help me."

The monster's expression cleared quickly. She released the bastard, though not before punching him in the jaw, followed by a quick knee to the groin. The funny thing, it seemed done in a hurry and without attention. Still, the breaking sound was audible even to her. As well as the traitor's howl of pain before passing out.

She blinked dizzily. The whole thing hadn't taken a minute. The monster threw the idiot of her ex as if he dumped the trash - not too far from reality - and ran towards her. An eager expression filling her rough features. She didn't know where she got them from, but three magic cores appeared out of nowhere in her hands. The monster carefully picked her up from the ground and cradled her in his lap.

She heard his voice as the words of an Arcane of healing slid down the rough line of her mouth. A warm tingling filled her nerve endings and soon after the pain began to subside.

"You said you would let me go." She accused her, after a second.

The monster bared its teeth.

"I never promised it would be forever, did I?"

Sascha blinked in shock. No, she hadn't. She sighed, feeling the effects of the spell sink into her bones. Repairing the damage the bastard had done to her. Through closed lids, she studied the monster.

Coarse and tough features. A stubborn jaw. An evil mouth. Long tousled ash-gray hair. Bronze skin, thick hard muscles flexed under that skin. He was shirtless and instead a cloak covered the broad expanse of his chest. Sharp eyes that weren't the color they should be watching her with predatory attention. No ears, no tail, and no claws.

"You look human." Her voice sounded better this time.

"Thanks to this" the monster cocked its chin after a moment's reflection as if he had been debating a matter of great importance. Sascha stared at the piece of leather wrapping around the monster's neck.

The object flashed magic in his senses.

"I thought you were going to kill him."

"I can still do it."

"You will not do it." She ordered her, surprising them both with her statement. The lunatic was back.

"Oh no?" now her tone of voice turned dangerous.

Caution. Proceed with care.

"You'll get me in trouble if you kill him." She told him, he had looked for her, he had saved her when she needed it. Sascha bet she was interested in her life.

The wolf frowned.

"Good." she snapped her. "But I'll still take care of him. My way and without blood, is that clear, or do you have a problem with that? "

She nodded meekly. The wolf snarled and looked with irritated bloodlust at the bastard of his ex who passed out from her.

Monster and human-faced each other in silence.

The front door opened and Sascha jumped out.

"You have to get out of here."

"Do not."

Sascha's heart beat fast, they only had a few seconds before the old man came down to check on her and ran into the scene.

She should be screaming. She thought. However, when she opened her mouth again she was to say.

"Please."

The wolf cocked his head and heeded her gaze. He narrowed his eyes and for a second Sascha thought he would refuse. Why did he care about her?

The Fenrir. The words played in her mind. Like its meaning. The ... the only one. She remembered the lonely howl and how the sound had burrowed under her skin. Sascha knew what loneliness was, although she doubted they could compare notes on that score. She was an idiot, that was what she was.

"Good." the monster finally accepted and Sascha let out her caught breath. "Nevertheless..."

The monster came closer, so close that their noses touched. She trembled, if only she knew what reason she trembled everything would have been easier.

"Don't run from me, Sascha. I will find you no matter where you go. " Surprised by the intensity of the Wolf, Sascha could only blink.

With that dark promise, the monster rose to his feet, gently laying her on her bed and disappearing into the night when her mantle was activated.

Whoa, I leave one obsessive to fall into another. She snorted, but her mind raced. She still had another matter to solve.

With uncertain steps, she rummaged through her chest until she found a pair of healing elixirs. Her knees trembled as she walked to a corner and she emptied the porcelain vials, while the silver liquid fell on the floor a painful grimace curled her lips at the waste, but it had to be done as if she would not justify being healthy? She heard the curse when her teacher found the bastard on the ground and then walked past her as she ran into her room.

"Sascha? Oh, by all the spirits Sascha. "

How badly do I look? Quite a bit, even though it was mostly just the footprints, all the damage inside had been healed by the monster. The old man carried her with insulting ease.

This is becoming a habit. She grumbled silently, but since protesting would fall on deaf ears, she let the Old Man lead her to the Temple where the kind Village Healer checked her.

No one asked her questions about her, which she appreciated, but the questions would arrive the next day. That was something she most certainly knew.