With my heart hammering in my ears and my thoughts a jumbled mess, I drove towards home. I needed to be surrounded by the familiar sweet scent of vanilla and cinnamon; lay in the plushy goodness of my futon sofa, and binge on lots of ice cream and cake until today's events were lost in a haze of sugar. After I came down from my sugar rush, I would open a bottle of wine and slowly process just what had transpired.
I was a street away from home when my phone began to ring. "Let It Flow" by Toni Braxton sounded and without looking I knew it was Tianna.
Tianna Moran was my only friend who knew a little about my crazy past. She was grace personified and looked like she had stepped out of a beauty magazine. Being around her always filled me with confidence and power. She was in a word intoxicating and how she juggled a husband and a six-month-old baby while holding down a job as an executive at a large firm, baffled me.
Her life was perfect unlike mine that was filled with unexplained issues; mostly medical ones that got worse with each passing year. I felt a faint prick of jealousy and rolled my eyes at myself. She was exactly who I needed to talk to.
I hit the answer button. "Hey T." My voice wobbled both from stress and relief. A hoarse whisper came through the line, "I need you to come over." Her words sent the strangest sensation of dread down my spine and the pity party I was having came to an immediate end.
"Come over? Are you sure?" For as long as I had known Tianna, I had never been to her house not for a party, a sleepover, or even to pick her up.
"Yes please and hurry." The tremor and urgency in her voice had me swallowing my questions and stepping on the gas pedal.
"Okay. What is your address? I'll be there before you know it." Tianna stuttered her address through sniffles and before I could respond the gruff sound of a masculine voice sounded and the line went dead.
The test results from my doctor's appointment and running into Det. Walker became distant memories as I sped down I-95. My heart was in my throat and the dread I felt earlier settled in the pit of my stomach.
The GPS said forty-five minutes, but barely twenty-five minutes later I was pulling into the Moran's driveway. As I walked up the steps to the door, I noticed how isolated their house was and that it was eerily quiet.
It was one of those huge, old, colonial homes with a massive back yard. There was the main house and another much smaller one for the help. In my mind, I could practically see my ancestors picking cotton in the field.
I shrugged my shoulder dismissively, rang the bell, and waited for Tianna. A minute passed with no answer. In fact, there was no movement at all on the other side of the door. Frowning in concern, I rang the bell again then double checked to make sure that one of the cars in the driveway was hers.
Still, there was no answer and the awful feeling I had on the drive over was now in full bloom. Grabbing my cell, I dialed her number but it rang without an answer. I couldn't even hear it through the thickness of the door.
Something within me awakened and the most peculiar sensation of pins and needles spread through my body, and suddenly I could see every dust particle in the air and hear the woodpecker in the tree about two feet to my left and 8 feet off the ground. I could even smell the mulch that was piled in the backyard.
Before I could panic at the abrupt influx of heightened senses, a muffled sound of skin connecting with skin followed by a voice pleading for it to stop flowed to my ear.
I immediately recognized Tianna's high- pitched voice as well as the angry, growling voice of her husband, Michael. From the sound of things, he was smacking her around.
Rage erupted like a bubbling cauldron that had been waiting for the perfect moment to explode and all the anger I had been suppressing came rushing to the surface. In a moment of delirious animosity, I braced my hands against the thick wooden door and gave it a brutal shove.
Like butter giving way to a knife, the door exploded inwards. Without giving it much thought, I stepped through the arch dismissing the modern day décor that radiated wealth and impeccable taste. Pausing for a moment, I cocked my head to the side, tapped into my acute hearing and sped towards the sound of Tianna's distressed whimpering.
In a blink, I found myself in the master bedroom which made mine look like a storage room. I was in awe of the gold paneled windows, the Borchers upholstered panel bed, and a low hanging chandelier that sparkled and shone, that was until I saw the scene playing out in front of me.
All two hundred and fifty pounds of Michael Moran was delivering deadly kick after kick on a tiny silk-robed figure curled into a ball, Tianna.
My fury rose to epic proportions and before I could think I was yanking Michael by his arm. In my madness, I spun him around, grabbed his throat, and released a fiendish growl. The gagging sound of his choked breathing fueled the urge to spill his blood. I wanted to see his body ripped and mangled until he was nothing but I messy pile of bones and blood before me.
"N-Nik," the low moan from Tianna snapped me back to reality and the impulse drained away.
Stupefied at my actions and thoughts, I quickly dropped Michael and reeled backward with horror in my eyes. What did I just do? How did I... "Nikki, help me."
Whirling around I looked at Tianna who was attempting to sit up but failing. Her pretty cocoa skin was black and blue and wrapped in her arms was little Aria.
I hurried over to help her. I was at a loss for words partly because I was stunned at my actions and partially in shock at the state she was in. Taking a sleeping Aria from her, I practically carried her on my back out of the house.
The drive home was a blur, and before I knew it, I was pulling into my assigned parking space. The car was silent except for the occasional sniffle from Tianna. I was bewildered at how this day had turned out. It was not at all like I planned it in any way, shape, or form.
I didn't know what to say. What could I say?! Releasing the breath, I hadn't realized I was holding, I opened my door and walked around to Tianna's side. I opened the door and pulled her out of the car into a hug.
As if a dam inside of her had broken, she burst into wails that made my heart tighten. After ten minutes of her crying out the anger and pain, I gently stepped back and retrieved my god-daughter from her hands. Not a word was spoken between us as we headed to my apartment. We were both lost in thoughts of what had transpired in the last few hours.
There was something seriously wrong with me! Maybe the doctor wasn't as crazy as I thought. I was changing and becoming someone, no something, that neither my medical team nor I recognized.
The unexplained strength and the overpowering compulsion to rip into Michael today were just more symptoms I had no idea how to handle. With a sigh, I entered my apartment.
While Tianna attended to Aria, I spent the next few minutes cleaning up and resisting the impulse to bury my sorrow in multiple bottles of wine.
*****
It was worse than I realized P.O.A.H hadn't just found her they also initiated a retrieval team. As I tailed Nikki home from Tianna's I noticed that there were also three cars doing the same. Stealthy I tailed them and got close enough to take a picture of their license plate.
Horror flickered down my back when they came back registered in her building surrounding her. This was exactly what I was afraid of but I was prepared for this I had everything we needed to disappear with her. The only decision I had to make was whether I was going to do this with her consent or without. My wolf instincts practically hummed its ascent to kidnap our mate but I knew that if I took that approach she would hate me more than she does right now.
As soon as she wakes up tomorrow I will explain just how much danger she is in and convince her to come with me so that I could protect her. As I planned out what I was going to say to convince Nikki tomorrow I also planned how I was going to take her without anyone knowing.
I was feeling unease and blind even after infiltrating this company for the last three years at the behest of the supernatural committee I had no idea of their upper management or why they wanted my mate so much.
A deadly growl escaped mythroat at the prospect of so much unknown dangers facing our mate as well asthe mystery of how a human became a royal's mate to begin with.