"No."
Kiera's eyes narrowed, her head tilted back as she regarded the petite girl before her. "What did you say?"
Audrey squared her shoulders. Only yesterday, she'd watched helplessly as her wedding was disrupted. Then those twin Alphas had chosen to kidnap her to a forbidden manor in the woods.
Now just as she was making her escape, here was another lawless bunch to abduct her yet again.
What did they take her for? Some sort of Barbie doll they could just uproot and pass around as they pleased? A weakling?
Were they aware that she'd weathered the storms of college, Cambridge for that matter, and graduated the best of her century at a tender age? Did they know that she currently worked for a tech company and earned near five figures?
Alright, truth be told, all that did not matter in this situation. But Audrey could think of no other accomplishments worth mentioning so she went with what she had.
The bottom line, no one should be messing with her like this. No matter how scary and wild they were.
Besides, she would rather return to the cruel manor that contained the twin Alphas than go anywhere with these ones.
Kiera and the men were obviously of a different pack. They'd sneaked into Frostone for some reason and had somehow ended up meeting her. Coincidence deserved to be jailed.
"No, I can't go with you." She repeated, her voice firm despite the erratic beating of her heart and the tremble in her limbs. "I have no business with you and you certainly have no business with me. I am in the process of returning home, and I would like to be on my way already. It was nice meeting you, though. Maybe we'll get to meet again…" Heaven forbid it a million times, "…under more convenient circumstances."
Fueled by a bravery she never knew she possessed, she nodded at the shocked looking trio before walking around Kiera.
She might as well return back to the manor as she was now totally lost. Besides, she didn't want to give room for encountering strangers in the woods again.
Feeling the intensity of their eyes burning holes through her, she made it all the way across the clearing before Brad abandoned his perch by the tree to block her path.
There was more amusement on his face than anything else. "Where do you think you're going, pretty?"
"You heard the lady. She would like to be on her way. Lowlives can be spooky, you know."
The carefree voice, one that struck a chord in Audrey's heart, reached them before Tristan swaggered out of the trees at a leisurely pace, the same he might use while taking a soul-searching stroll through the countryside.
Kiera snarled, baring fiercely long canines. "The rabid Alpha is here at last. Terrific."
Tristan shrugged. "That's the reason we have territories. You don't have to deal with scum like me and I don't have to deal with scum like you. All's fair."
His face hardened, all humor gone. "Where trouble comes is when those boundaries are breached. You three are a long way from home."
Audrey felt cold, calloused hands on her arm as Brad drew her close, so close that she almost gagged from the odor of his heat.
"We don't need to do much damage here." He shoved a lock of hair from her face. "We want her. Consider it appeasement for your crimes against our pack. We are a dark brood over there and any form of glamour like her is deeply appreciated."
Something beyond rage took over Tristan's face. And he should've been made fearful, but instead Audrey thought he looked even more devilishly handsome. More real. Himself.
"Let her go." He punctuated each word with a calm pause. "You would not be told twice."
Kiera and Hugo formed a wall of obstruction between Audrey and her obvious savior.
Hugo, who seemed to enjoy flexing his chest and arm muscles at the slightest provocation, didn't disappoint. "I've always wondered what Alpha blood looks like. What makes him different from the rest of us."
Tristan considered them for a heartbeat before releasing a murderous smile. "You funeral then. My regards to the devil when you reach hell. Tell him I would be along after a few centuries more."
Audrey picked up a blur of motion in her peripheral vision. A now familiar euphoric scent invaded her nose before a form appeared behind Brad. Deckard, in all his silent but commanding glory.
It was too late for the trio now. Where Tristan had approached with rationality, Deckard arrived with havoc.
Even before Brad could turn around, Deckard wrapped a fist around his thick neck and lifted him cleanly off the ground, loosening his hold on Audrey.
Brad's eyes flared silver as his wolf was unleashed. Audrey watched in awe as the fighting man's skin took on a dark hue, sprouting coarse dark fur. His nose lengthened into a nozzle and his mouth widened to display rows of canines as he snarled.
Audrey almost cried out in warning when Hugo stormed forward to rescue his pack mate but Tristan was a step ahead of her. He barely seemed to move before he had Hugo in his grasp, long claws digging through skin.
"You messed with our mate." Tristan stated before snapping Hugo's neck. A mere log of wood in such powerful hands.
With a listless look on his face, he watched as the lifeless body crumpled to the ground.
Through it all, Deckard held on to the struggling Brad. From Audrey's position, she had a clear view of the big broody brother's face.
Though it was still angelic beyond words, a rage simmering underneath, granting it an animalistic grace. His eyes were a fiery flame focused solely on the werewolf at his mercy.
Almost lazily, he reached up with his free hand and sunk his claws through Brad's skull, spilling crimson blood.
Audrey gasped at the brutality she'd just witness. Her knees trembled. Her arms were useless. Bile rose up her throat. She turned around to retch out whatever remained in her empty stomach.
"The female is gone." Tristan said behind her.
"Someone needs to get a message to Dark Creek pack." Deckard growled and smashed his fist through a tree, severing it into two. The shady hood fell down with a thundering crash.
Audrey looked up to see those fiery eyes pinned on her. There was nothing human left in them. All she could see was a monster contemplating her fate. Her dismemberment.
He stormed towards her but Tristan got in the way.
"Relax, Deck. The little thing is frightened to death already." He glanced at her and winked. "You don't have to go all beast mode on her. At least not here."
Deckard said nothing but came no further. He turned around and vanished into the woods.
Tristan sauntered over to a shaking Audrey and took her in his arms, wrapping then around her body. He positioned her head close to his shoulder.
He felt so solid and real against her that she couldn't keep herself from releasing everything else.
"Hey, it's alright. You're safe now." His voice was soothing to her ears.
The tears flowed from her eyes. All the fear, frustration, heartbreak and confusion sipping out of her like a dam.
There in the woods, holding on to this strange man like an anchor, she fell apart.