Chapter 32: 10


    Katelyn jumped out of her skin when she heard the front door m, and Darrell came staggering up the


    stairs to the loft with no consideration for thete hour. He bumped into the corner of the banister and


    swore a string of cuss words that would have made a sailor blush with shame.


    Katelyn reached over and turned on themp next to the bed and watched him bump into the wall as


    he tried to pull his shirt off over his head. Heughed and dropped his shirt on the floor and kicked off


    his boots as his hands reached for his belt. She could smell the boozeing off him even from this


    distance. It was like he had bathed in whisky.


    Darrell crawled into bed with Katelyn pushing her back against the bed as he tried to kiss her. Katelyn


    recoiled and turned her face away from his. “You reek of whisky,” sheined.


    “Come on, Baby, don’t be stuck up.”


    “Get off me,” she said, pushing him away. “You are drunk,” Katelyn was not interested in giving him any


    love when he threw a tantrum and left her alone all day and night.


    “I may be drunk, but I can still make your knees weak,” he promised, kissing her neck and sending a


    delightful shutter throughout her body. And she could not help but sigh, and when she did, Katelyn


    heard Darrell chuckled. “I must be doing something right,” he whispered in her ear as his fingers


    worked the zipper of her jeans open, sliding his hand down the front of her pants. He stroked her


    womanhood and pressed a finger deep inside her.


    Her breath caught in her lungs, and her eyes fell shut as the hot sensation spread from his hand


    through her body. She hated that he could break her will with such ease. That his touch could make her


    want more. Her traitorous body betrayed her when he was near. She should not want him, but she did.


    What was wrong with her?


    Darrell pulled her jeans down her legs and tossed them across the room. Her panties were gone next.


    She should have protested, but Darrell bent over and pressed his mouth to her womanhood. Stop him.


    Her mind was screaming, but the words never found their way to her mouth. Darrell’s mouth and


    tongue worshipped her most intimate ce, licking and sucking at the bud of her sex.


    Katelyn could not stop moaning when he pushed two fingers inside her, thrusting and manipting her


    to fevered heights of desperate need. Soon she was lost to the pleasure. How was it that this man


    knew how to reduce her to a perfect wanton? Katelyn’s fingers ws at the bedding, trying to hold on


    to reality while her body trembled with the force of a breathtaking climax.


    Darrell kissed a zing path up her belly, pushing her t-shirt up and out of his way. His hot mouth


    closed around her breast and suckled until her nipple was peaked. Katelyn wrapped her arms around


    him. Darrell lifted his head and smiled down at her. “I like having you at my mercy,” he whispered and


    kissed her lips and pushed his shorts down his legs and kicked them off. “Tell me; you want me,” he


    said, settling between her legs. She could feel his arousal pressed firmly against her womanhood. “Say


    it,” he urged, rubbing against her.


    She could not believe she was saying yes. “I want ye,” her plea was instantly rewarded as Darrell


    entered her forcing her tender tissue to yield to his invasion. Darrell braced his weight above her. He


    kissed her neck as he moved within her. He thrust deep and hard, rocking the bed. Katelyn moaned


    and lifted her hips off the mattress, meeting his downward thrust. His mouth ate at hers, and his hand


    cupped her breast.


    It was a primal, animalistic union, and when she reached orgasm, she cried out and arched her back.


    Darrell quickly pulled out just as his climax took him. He dropped onto the mattress next to her, trying to


    catch his breath. As the insanity passed, Katelyn cursed her weakness. Somehow, he had gotten her to


    submit again. What was it with this guy? She should be angry, but instead, she craved him. The way he


    touched her made her mindless.


    “That was fun,” she purred breathlessly. Darrell flopped onto the bed and put his arm around Katelyn’s


    waist, and held her close.


    It was not long before Katelyn heard the steady rhythm of his breathing. He had fallen asleep. Katelyn’s


    gaze went from Darrell to the window. Something caught her eyes. Katelyn climbed out of bed, getting


    dressed. She walked over to the curving row of windows and looked out into the night. With the house


    lights off, it was easy to see the lights in the trees. What was that?


    Curious, Katelyn went downstairs and out the front door. Pushing open the screen door, she stepped


    outside and slowly moved toward the lights in the trees. What was that? She moved closer, trying to


    see in the dark. The closer she got, the slower she moved. She was starting to get a bad feeling. Then


    when she heard growling, Katelyn knew exactly what the lights were. The house was surrounded by


    Lycans.


    Very carefully, Katelyn made to move, but Darrell’s embrace tightened around her as he made himself


    morefortable. She remained very still, and after a few minutes, she tried again, gently easing his


    arm from around her waist. She froze when he rolled onto his back, his arm resting on his perfectly


    toned abs. The liquor in his system must have been acting as a sedative.


    Katelyn turned and broke into a run. She took off back to the house but stopped short when a huge


    grey wolf jumped in front of her, growling, cutting off her route back to the house. She saw a beaten


    pathway in the trees near the house and decided to try and escape that way. She bolted for the trees.


    The path was dark, and only the moonlight lit her way. She needed to find her way back to the highway.


    She could g down a car for help.


    It was not long before she reached the main road, but it was deserted. Her hopes picked up when she


    saw a set of headlights. Someone wasing. Katelyn ran for the road and was nearly there when a


    wolf jumped in front of her cutting off her escape. She ran in another direction heading for the trees


    again. She would try to lose them in the forest. Katelyn ran as fast as she could. Branches tore at her


    flesh, but she kept pushing. If they caught her, she was as good as dead. Katelyn jumped over a fallen


    tree and looked back. She could not see anyone, but she could hear the snarls and howls of wolves


    behind her. They were close; she could see the sh of their eyes in the darkness. They were getting


    closer.


    Katelyn screamed when arge wolf knocked her to the ground, face down. She rolled over and put up


    her arms, trying to fend the beast off when another snapped at her leg, catching the cuff of her jeans


    and gave her a good shake ripping the fabric. The animal on top of her was snarling and biting at her


    arm. She cried out in pain. They were going to rip her apart. She was going to die.


    Suddenly another golden wolf pounced the one on top of her, knocking it off her. The two beasts rolled


    and flipped, biting at one another until the dark one whimpered and scurried off. The golden wolf stood


    over Katelyn and growled at the others that were pacing around them. One came closer, but the wolf


    on top of her snapped at it, and the beast backed off.


    Slowly the wolves began to slink back into the darkness. The golden wolf turned around and looked at


    her nudging her side, encouraging her to get up. Her leg hurt, and she could not get up. Her arm was


    bleeding. The wolf licked at her arm and wedged its head under her arm. Katelyn used it to pull herself


    up onto her feet. In the heat of the moment, she could not tell one from another, but she was pretty


    sure this one was Darrell. Once she was on her feet, the wolf nudged her legs with his head, and she


    carefully climbed onto its back.


    With her good arm, she held onto the fur at the back of its neck and let it carry her back to the house. It


    walked slowly so she would not fall. The massive wolf carried her through the woods and stopped at


    the front door of the house. She slid off the wolf and limped into Darrell’s house. She sat on the couch


    as she watched the wolf follow her inside. The huge animal bumped into the furniture as it came


    around the coffee table.


    She watched as its eyes began to glow, and it changed back into a man. Darrell stood in front of her,


    reaching for his jeans. Once he was dressed, he took the first aid box and sat beside her. He took her


    arm and studied the wound. “You are lucky; they could have done much worse,” he said, getting up to


    get a wet cloth to clean the wound. “This was just a love bite,” he said, sitting down and taking her arm


    again, gently dabbing at the puncture wounds where the beast had sunk his teeth into the muscle of


    her forearm. “A little more pressure, and he could have snapped the bone. Why on earth did you go


    outside without me?” Darrell took a bottle of rubbing alcohol from the kit and dumped it on her arm.


    Katelyn cried out in pain, and he looked up withpassion in his eyes. “Sorry.”


    “I saw lights. I went to investigate,” she said. “They ambushed me. Cut off my retreat back to the


    house. So, I ran into the woods. I was hoping to lose them in the darkness.”


    “They would have just hunted you down.”


    Katelyn could not fight the tears that began to stream down her cheeks. “I’m never going to get out of


    here alive, am I?” She began to sob, and Darrell took her in his arms. “I’m trapped here. They are


    never going to let me live,” Darrell held her close. He stroked her hair and kissed her forehead, trying to


    soothe her hysteria. “I don’t… want… to… die,” she said between heavy sobs. “You won’t let them kill


    me, will ye?” She asked, looking up at him hopefully.


    “No, I won’t let anyone hurt you,” he promised.


    ***


    Katelyn rose early and got dressed. Darrell was still sleeping in the bed. Katelyn collected what little


    she had brought with her and repacked her suitcase. As she zipped it up, Darrell lifted his sleepy head


    and looked at her. “What are you doing?” He asked through a yawn.


    Ccontent ? exclusive by N?/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.


    “I’m going home.”


    He sat up as he watched her. “You are leaving?”


    “I can’t do this, Darrell. I thought I could, but it is just too dangerous. I can’t set foot out of this house


    without risking my life. The pack hates me. It is just too dangerous for me to stay here. I have to leave


    Feral.”


    “I thought you wanted to study us?”


    “I did, but not at the cost of my own life.”


    “After everything, you are just going to go home to Nigel?”


    “No. I’m done with him. I’m going back to my parents’ house. You are fascinating, but I want to live.”


    Darrell tossed back the nket and got out of bed, walking over to her, still naked. It was so hard to say


    goodbye when he was like this. “Please don’t leave, Katelyn. I really enjoy being around you. After all,


    you are my girl.”


    “We are not a real couple Darrell. Remember?”


    “We could be.”


    “For how long? Until you tire of me? Or until you decided it is time to settle down with Aster?”


    He went quiet for a moment. “You don’t think I’m sincere?”


    “You don’t date, your words. How can you possibly say we are anything more than fuck buddies?”


    He looked hurt as he stepped back. “I’m trying to make the best of a bad situation. Granted, I would


    have liked things to begin in a very different way than they had, but from the moment I saw you, I knew


    I wanted you. Having you share my bed these past few days hasn’t changed my mind; in fact, it only


    solidified my desire to make you mine. I have never felt this way about any woman. I wish I could make


    you see through my eyes. We could have a good thing,” Darrell lowered his gaze and stepped back like


    he was thinking of something and struggling with it. “Actually, I can.”


    Darrell looked up at her with a new resolve, and he reached up to touch her, causing Katelyn to take a


    cautious step back. “What are you doing?”


    “Trust me,” he said, framing her face with his hands. His touch was gentle but firm.


    Darrell looked deep into her eyes and stood very close. Katelyn did not know what he was doing. As


    she stared into his bright amber eyes, something happened. It was almost like his eyes became


    deeper, drawing her in, not only into his thoughts but into his heart and soul.


    She saw him as a child ying by the river as his mother watched on. She saw him running through


    the woods as a beast; she could feel his heart beating in her own chest. She saw a mob of farmers


    burning down his home. She could almost choke on the smoke. She could feel his fear as his mother


    rushed him and his sister out the back door while his mother fought off the mob, dying to protect her


    children. She could feel his loss.


    Suddenly she was standing with him and Charlotte in Feral shaking hands with Gordon. She could feel


    his pride, sense of belonging. She could feel everything he did like they were one person. She could


    see the world as he did. Then she saw herself through his eyes. She could feel the emotion. She could


    feel their hearts beating in unison.


    Darrell let go, and the intense bond was broken. He sat down on the foot of the bed catching his breath


    as if he had just run a marathon. What had just happened?


    ***


    “What was that?” Katelyn asked.


    “Did you feel that?” He asked, looking up at her. Darrell was not sure he had done that right, but he had


    certainly felt the bond. He felt drained now, even more, tired than he had when he got home.


    “What did you do to me?”


    “It is called imprinting,” he exined. “I looked into your soul and let you into mine,” imprinting was a


    sacred bond between two people. It made them one, and it could only ever be done once. She now


    belonged to him and him to her. It was what bonded mates together.


    “I don’t understand,” she said, confused. “I saw things. Things I could not have seen.”


    Imprinting was a very personal thing. It was a glimpse into the life of another person. She had seen his


    memories, and he had seen hers. Since Katelyn was mortal, the imprinting had been difficult. It had


    been a mess of incoherent images. He had seen her family, shes of her childhood. From what he


    could tell, her childhood had been good. She came from a loving family and suffered no hardships until


    she had crossed paths with him.


    “I remember a fire,” she said, lost in her own experience. I could feel the heat; I even choked on the


    smoke. But I have never been in a fire,” she said with great confusion. “There was a woman, I don’t


    know who she was, but I got the feeling she loved me.”


    He remembered that night. The night the mob came for him and his family. His father had been shot


    dead not one month earlier. The farmer’s ount of that night had raised many questions. It had


    exposed them for what they were, andte at night, his mother had dragged Darrell and his sister out of


    bed, trying to get them out of the house before the mob could kill them.


    Darrell remembered the bottles filled with kerosene and old shop rags break through the windows and


    roll across the floor. The old house had gone up in mes so quickly. The house was encircled by


    dense woods that made surrounding the home difficult. His mother had pushed Charlotte into his arms


    and told him to take his sister and run and not to look back. He was just a kid at the time, no older than


    thirteen.


    His mother was still yelling at him to run when the hunters came through the front door, and she turned


    to defend her cubs. Thest time he had seen his mother was when she transformed to fight those


    hunting them. It was a sob story but not a unique one. Most Lycanthropes had the same or simr


    stories of lost loved ones and midnight escapes. Very few of them, like Aster, had grown up in this


    community protected by a pack of Lycanthrope willing to defend and die for them.


    If he ever had children, this was where he wanted them to grow up. He wanted to live long enough to


    see his cubs be adults and, God willing, live to see his grandchildren. It was the goal of any good


    parent and one that was rarely achieved by Lycanthrope parents.


    “That was my mother,” he confessed. “It is my memory you saw. She died in a fire when I was thirteen.”


    “So, your mother and father were both murdered?” She asked, sitting next to him.


    “Yes.”


    Katelyn looked confused. “How is it that I know that?”


    “Imprintingbines two souls. You will remember my memories, and I’ll remember yours,” he smiled.


    “As I know, your first kiss was when you were ten, and it happened behind the slide on the school park.


    You were both nervous. You missed each other’s lips.”


    Katelynughed awkwardly. “You saw that?”


    Darrell grinned wickedly. “I have seen a lot,” it was how he knew she wanted to stay with him and that


    she felt conflicted about that. His attempt to bind her to him had worked at least to some degree. And


    now that he had imprinted with her, she knew his deepest darkest secrets and his feelings about her,


    which ironically, he too felt conflicted about.


    At first, he had just had a physical attraction to this woman, but since their unusual associating, he had


    found himself enjoying her more than just the physical. Regardless of their unfortunate introduction to


    one another, Katelyn was everything Darrell could want in a mate. She was beautiful, she was strong-


    willed, she was smart, and she was persistent. She was everything one would expect from a


    Lycanthrope female irrespective of the fact that she was not one of them.


    Darrell rose to his feet, the drain the imprinting had on him was fading, and he felt like getting drunk.


    Darrell took Katelyn’s hand in his and pulled her to his feet. “Let’s go have some fun.”


    Katelyn looked saddened. “I really like you, Darrell,” he sensed there was a buting. “But…” there it


    was, “I can’t stay in Feral anymore. It is too dangerous. Please take me back to Aspen.


    Darrell’s heart sunk. Even after imprinting with her, he had been unable to keep her. He had lost this


    battle. “Alright, just let me dress.”


    ***


    Darrell drove Katelyn to her parent’s house, who came running outside when they saw her. Her mother


    was in tears, telling Katelyn they had feared the worst when Nigel told them she was missing. Katelyn


    chastised herself. She should have called them to tell them she was fine. Katelyn assured them all was


    well and then introduced them to Darrell. He shook their hand politely, referring to them as Sir and


    Ma’am, as wasmon practice in the south where he was from.


    Her folks seemed impressed by his manners. Katelyn asked them to go inside and give her a moment


    to say goodbye to her friend. They went inside, and Katelyn was alone with Darrell on the stoop. “It has


    been quite the experience getting to know you,” she said with a sad smile. She did not want to say


    goodbye to him, but she feared his pack.


    “Yeah, it has been real,” he sighed and took a step toward her. “I was hoping that maybe this wasn’t


    goodbye. I would like to keep seeing you.”


    Katelyn smiled. “I would like that too,” she should not, but she did. “But the pack….”


    “We won’t go into Feral. We can stay at my ce.”


    “I don’t know.”


    “Ok, n-B, I know this little spot in the woods. It is secluded and well past Feral’s borders,” he gave


    her quick directions. “You meet me there tonight, let’s say around seven.”


    “Ok. I’ll be there.”


    “I’ll see you then,” he leaned in and stole a quick kiss, then stepped off the stood and headed for his


    truck. Katelyn did not know what he had nned, but she was eager to find out.