*Ryan’s POV*
I was sitting on the side of the bed, waiting for Sammy to come back, when I heard her scream my name. I leapt up and raced to the door, nearly ripping it off its hinges as I barreled through it. I flew down the stairs and skidded into the kitchen.
In a split second, I saw the whole scene. Jason was leaning heavily on Sam, crushing her against the wall and cupping his crotch with one hand. The other hand was clamped over her mouth to prevent her from making any more noise. In that one second, I almost completely lost control of my wolf, but I managed to hold on by a thread.
I ran to Jason and grabbed the back of his shirt, throwing him to the other side of the room, where he crumpled to the ground. Sammy slid to the floor and I was torn between ripping Jason to shreds or making sure Sam was okay. I heard a thud from above me and then footsteps coming racing down the stairs. A moment later, Charlie flew into the room and looked around frantically. He saw me standing near his sister and then took in the sight of Jason lying on the floor. Pure hatred crossed his face and he went over to Jason and started kicking the crap out of him.
Decision made for me, I crouched down and gathered Sammy into my arms. She latched onto me and clung as I sat down and cradled her in my lap. I put my lips against her hair and rocked her gently. When I realized that I was the one shaking, not her, I peered down at her face.
Her eyes were locked on Charlie as he continued to beat on Jason. Her expression was a mix of anger and satisfaction. She looked up at me after a moment. “You should probably stop him before he kills him,” she said quietly.
I nodded and placed her on the floor. I stood up and strode over to Charlie. I grabbed him and pulled him back. He struggled violently, but I managed to restrain him. “Sammy doesn’t want you to kill him,” I said calmly.
Charlie blew out a long breath, then nodded, so I released him. He stepped up to Jason and spit on him before turning back around and walking over to Sammy. I followed him and was surprised to see that she was standing. Pride filled me when I realized that she had been able to fight back. The fact that Jason had been holding his crotch proved that.
I slipped my arms around her and she leaned into me. I hugged her tightly, needing the contact almost as much as she did. I kissed the top of her head and pulled back slightly. “You’re not staying here anymore,” I told her firmly.
She closed her eyes. “Where are we supposed to go? I’m not eighteen until the end of next month.”
“You’re coming to stay at my place. Both of you are,” I added, looking at Charlie.
But Samantha was shaking her head. “No, your mom won’t be happy about that. We can’t just show up like that.”
“Sammy, you’re coming with me, whether you want too or not. I’m not leaving you here, and if I stay here much longer, I’ll kill him,” I jerked my head in Jason’s direction.
“I agree with Ryan, Sam,” Charlie said quietly.
We both turned to look at him in surprise. “You want to go to his place Charlie?” Samantha asked.
He shrugged. “I don’t care where we go, but I don’t want you staying here. I know you won’t go without me, so I’ll go wherever you do. Ryan is offering us a safe place to stay. I think we should go with him.”
She sighed and then nodded. “Okay, at least for tonight. We can figure something else out tomorrow if we need too.”
I let out a breath of relief. “Come on, let’s go pack some of your stuff before he wakes up. We can come back later for the rest of your stuff.”
We all went up the stairs and I helped Sam pack a bag. When we were done, we both went to give Charlie a hand and then we headed out to my car. The drive to my place went by quickly and soon I pulled into the driveway. As I got out of the car, I noticed that the lights in the house were on. I frowned as I looked at my watch and saw that it was just after two in the morning.
When I led the way through the door, I sensed my mom in the kitchen, so I made my way in that direction. She was sitting at the table with a mug in her hands, an unbearably sad expression on her face as she stared off in space. “Mom?”
She jolted and quickly schooled her features into a blank mask. “Ryan! What are you doing here so late?” Her eyes shifted over my shoulder and I knew she saw Sammy and Charlie. “What’s going on?”
“There was an… incident with Jason. I couldn’t let them stay there, so I told them to come here. That’s okay, right?”
She nodded immediately. “Of course. They can stay as long as they need too.”
I turned to the two of them. “Sammy, why don’t you take Charlie up and show him the guest room? I’ll be up there shortly.”
She nodded and took her brothers arm, obviously realizing that I wanted to speak to my mom alone. When they were out of sight, I moved to sit beside my mom. “Why did you look so sad?”
She sighed and looked down at her empty mug. “I was thinking of your father.”
I took one of her hands in mine. “You miss him a lot, don’t you?”
She squeezed her eyes shut. “More then I thought was possible. It’s been twelve years, and I still miss him as if it just happened yesterday.” She opened her eyes again to look at me. “You have Sam now, so you might understand it a little better. It’s not only the Shifters that feel the connection. When your father died, a part of me died with him.”
My heart lurched painfully at the thought of losing Sam. “How did you manage to go on?”
She smiled sadly and squeezed my hand. “I had you. You’re a part of him, so you made it bearable to survive. And the dreams help as well.”
I frowned. “What dreams?”
“After your father died, I started having dreams about him. But they weren’t just regular dreams. Your fathers wolf can still talk to me through them, so I’m able to communicate with him still. Without that connection, I don’t think I would have made it.”
“I didn’t know about that.” I was silent as I thought about it all for a moment. “I guess it’s comforting to know that no matter what happens, I’ll still be able to communicate with her.”
“I never knew about this until your father died. You know that his family didn’t speak to us, thinking he was a freak. When his parents died and he and his sisters were taken in, no one knew about Shifters, so he had no one to explain things to him. When your father changed for the first time, they disowned him. Luckily, he managed to find a few other Shifters in his travels and they were able to explain most if it to him.”
I nodded. I had heard this story before. We never spoke to my aunts, and I wasn’t complaining about it. “I’m going to go up to bed,” I said as I stood up. “Go get some sleep mom. Maybe you can talk to dad tonight.”
She released my hand and stood up as well. She hugged me tightly. “Don’t waste any time when it comes to her, Ryan. Treasure every single moment, because you never know when it’ll be your last.”
I wrapped my arms around her slim frame. “You really don’t mind if they stay here? Sammy will be eighteen at the end of next month, so she’ll legally be able to be on her own then. And she’s going to challenge Jason for guardianship of Charlie.”
She pulled away. “It’s fine, Ryan. In fact, I kind of like the idea of them staying here. It means you’ll be here more often.”
I gave her a sheepish smile. “Yeah, sorry I haven’t been home a lot lately.”
She laughed. “Don’t worry, I understand completely. When I first met your father, he couldn’t keep his hands off of me either.”
I backed up quickly. “Okay, way too much info. I’ll see you in the morning.” I bolted out of the room, with the sound of my mothers laughter following behind me.
I made my way up to my room and smiled when I saw Samantha hanging some of her clothes in my closet. I went up behind her and slipped my arms around her waist. I kissed the side of her neck and was pleased when I felt her shiver with pleasure. “You okay?”
She turned in my arms. “I am now that you’re here,” she replied.
My heart swelled with her words. “Can I ask you something?”
“Sure.”
“Why didn’t you use our connection to call me down earlier?”
She frowned as she looked up at me. “What do you mean?”
“Well, remember when I told you that my wolf can talk to your soul? And that you’d be able to send any strong feelings to me?”
“Oh! I didn’t even think about that. You mean I could’ve just… sent my fear to you through our connection?”
“Yeah. I could’ve been there a lot sooner if you’d done that.” When she looked down, I grabbed her chin and tilted her head back up. “I’m not mad, angel. You handled yourself well before I got there. But it’s hard for me, knowing that you were in trouble and I didn’t know it.”
Her hands came up to frame my face. “Next time, I’ll remember to use the connection,” she said.
“I’m hoping there never is a next time,” I replied. I dipped my head and touched my lips to hers. It was meant to be a soft kiss, but her hands moved to the back of my head and she held me to her, deepening it.
I let out a soft moan and I felt my groin starting to swell. I pulled her body flush against mine and slowly backed her up to the bed. I laid her down and covered her body with mine, not breaking the kiss once. She quickly pulled my shirt off and I returned the favor, disposing of her bra at the same time.
In a matter of minutes, all of our clothes had been thrown across the room and I thrust into her. We both moaned in pleasure as I picked up the pace quickly. We both needed this after the night we’d had. This was no gentle lovemaking. This was filled with raw need and emotions.
Sam started convulsing around me and that pushed me over the edge. I grunted as I finished, the pleasure so intense that it was nearly unbearable. I resisted the urge to just collapse on top of her; instead, I rolled onto my back, pulling her on top of me. I placed a few kisses along her jaw, eliciting a sigh of pleasure from her. “I love you so much Sammy.”
She snuggled into me more. “I love you too Ryan. Thank you for being there tonight. I don’t know what would have happened if you hadn’t been.”
I detected something in her voice, so I tilted her head until I was looking in her eyes. “What happened tonight?”
She pretended to be confused, but I saw the flicker in her eye. “What do you mean? Jason came after me, and you stopped him from doing anything.”
“Samantha, I know you’re hiding something from me. It’ll be easier if you just tell me.”
She searched my eyes and I grew uneasy at the emotions I saw playing across her face. “He said that since I was a whore, he should be able to get a piece of ass from me as well. He… he…” she couldn’t finish as her lips started to tremble.
My whole body went rigid. That bastard had been about to try and rape her? I was barely aware that I’d moved Sam off of me and stood up, until she grabbed hold of my arm. I looked down at her. “I’m going to go finish what Charlie started,” I said in a deadly tone.
“No Ryan, you can’t. I need you to stay here with me. Please don’t leave me,” she said pleadingly, tears starting to trail down her face.
I wavered, torn between killing Jason and comforting my mate. Looking down at her vulnerable face, I released a breath. I sat back down and pulled her onto my lap. “It’s okay baby, I’ll never leave you,” I cooed softly as I rocked her.
Eventually, I lay back down with her and she curled her body tightly to mine. I knew she was determined to keep close to me so I didn’t leave, but she needn’t have bothered. I’d told her that I wouldn’t leave her, and I would never tell her something that I didn’t mean. However, tomorrow was another day.
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Ugh, I am not impressed with how this chapter turned out. I was up until 1am trying tomake it flow more, but apparently editing while sleep deprived isn't a good idea lol. I didn't even want to post this, but I promised you guys the next chapter, so here it is. Don't blame me if it sucks :-P.
I can't believe the response I got to the last chapter. The amount of comments was crazy. I read every single one of them and a lot of them had me laughing a lot. Especially beth101 and her personal army of bloodthirsty pokemon....
I have a question for everyone: If I have another cliffhanger, would you guys prefer that I update later that night and then have two days of no updating? Or keep it going the way I've been doing it?
Dedication goes to rhp625 for guessing that Charlie would be there too. And don't worry, I have a chapter that will have pretty much just Sam and Charlie planned.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter, even though I don't like it too much. Vote and comment to show the love!
Oh, and if anyone wants to try making a cover for my next story, Love is Blind, I'd appreciate it and could possibly give you a sneak peek of the prologue and first chapter of it. I have no thoughts on what it needs to look like, so surprise me :-)