Embraced By The Pack

"Why did you take me?"My heart pounded, watching the guy in the back with laser focus as his body continued to change. The van was still flying down the road, but a car crash was the least of my worries considering I'd been taken by werewolves.I'd have loved to deny it, but I heard the animal growl in Veggie Guy's voice when he grabbed me. And now, I was watching him turn slowly and painfully from animal to human."You're his mate. When a wolf finds his mate, he goes wolf and hunts until she's his," Seatbelt Guy explained quickly. "Staying with him will buy you more time."That second part was kidnapper bullshit, for sure."Why would staying with a 'hunting' werewolf ever buy me more time?""Because he's going to be stuck in his wolf form until he's either changed you into one of us or killed you. You're the she-wolf he wants, and he won't back down until you're his. He'll try to get you to offer yourself first, to ask him to change you but there's no telling how long he'll wait, and

The buildings were a completely different style than the new, modern builds of the college town I lived in.I passed by a wind chime with at least fifty shells and bits of sea glass hanging from it. It looked homemade, which was odd considering we were surrounded by the forest and mountains, and nowhere near the beach. The wind chime hung over the porch of an old building covered in what looked like newly-painted, sky-blue siding. The building was small and old, but charming and looked well taken care of.Stopping out in front of the porch, I looked at the wolf beside me."You knew I wasn't walking back toward my school," I said, my voice flat.He batted his eyes at me. I think he was trying to look innocent, but he was a wolf. He could see better in the dark than I could.Which meant that he'd played me.The damn wolf had played me.Abduction is not averted.I looked back at the door, weighing my options.I could knock and hope there was someone sympathetic inside, who could give me

The wolf heaved a sigh but then moved toward the door. His eyes swept the room as he went; he was looking for an escape route just to make sure I couldn’t leave, probably.I'd already looked though, and there wasn't one.Satisfied that I was good and trapped, he stepped into the hallway and plopped down on his belly right in front of the door.With the comfort of the door separating us, I took my time in the bathtub. Mostly because I wanted some distance from the wolf.Er, Jesse.He'd started to seem too human when he was giving me directions via our little game of Charades. And I didn't want to humanize him. He and his friends had abducted me, and they were trapping me in the townhouse.I was not going to fall victim to Stockholm Syndrome. And sure, I was a long way from that, but the first step to falling for your kidnapper was seeing them as a person with hopes and dreams and feelings and shit.At least, I assumed that was the first step. Taking Psych 101 during my spring semester

He must've believed me, because he finally left, and getting dressed after he was gone was quick even with my injured feet.No way in hell was I putting shoes back on, so I just headed out with my socked feet. Every footstep hurt more than the last, but I braved my way to the front porch with Jesse at my side. The porch had a comfortable-looking hammock swinging across it, and I itched to sit in it and just swing for a bit but reminded myself that I'd been kidnapped.And there was no Stockholm Syndrome allowed.Jesse growled before I stepped off the porch."I'm getting tired of getting growled at. And licked. And pretty much everything else that has to do with you being a wolf." I narrowed my eyes at him. "We aren't friends, okay? You think I'm your mate, but you kidnapped me. I don't like you."He scowled.Turning, he trotted toward the house next door.I went to step off the stairs, but like he had eyes on the back of his head, he gave a warning growl."Damn wolf," I muttered.I was

"You ditched school to buy a dog?"Ebony's curly black hair was up in a bun, her dark brown skin and chocolate-colored eyes framed by loose curls she’d purposefully left out. She was tall and slim, and I’d always been jealous of how long her arms were.Yes, it was a stupid thing to be jealous about, but short arms suck."You don't even really like dogs,” she reminded me.Yeah, I was aware."I've been feeling overwhelmed since the semester started, and my mom convinced me an emotional support dog would help," I lied. "I'll probably come to regret it, but he's trained at least.""Where did you get the money?" Ebony frowned.Damn smart roommate."Mom paid and showed up with him. She wouldn't take no for an answer." I rolled my eyes, hoping Ebony bought the story."What kind of dog is he?" She eyed the monster, clearly uncertain about sharing our tiny dorm room with the wolf."A wolfdog," I said easily. I knew that was a real type of dog because my mom had nearly picked one of those when s