Horror Case

Chapter 13

"It's okay, it's dead."

I took gulping breaths. "Thank
you."

He nodded, but there was a pinch
to the corners of his eyes like
something bothered him.

Over the next couple of days even
after he saved me from the viper,
the distance that had grown
between us, my omega managed to
fill. Tomas spent his time on the
radio, trying to figure out if
there was any news, any way
forward. And each time he came
back with nothing.

"Three days left." He sighed after we had another . But our sessions
weren't the same as before, as if
we were distant and not cherishing
each other. It made sense seeing
as we now knew what was at
stake.

Both of our lives.

"I feel like going out for a walk."
I turned to face him, then sat up,
not waiting for a reaction. It
was clear by the sadness in his
eyes.

"Good idea. Maybe we need a
little time to focus. Whenever
we're together, we just get
distracted."
Part of me felt sad about the
idea of him not fighting to stay
with me, to protect me. But his
observation of there only being
three days left said it all.

He was thinking the same thing I
was: if we didn't leave the
island soon, then Dad would find
me, if he hadn't done so already.
The first day he told me about
the meeting with Dad, he'd made
spaghetti and then forced me to
eat it. I couldn't even consume
anything back then. The more time
I spent with Tomas, the more I
could trust him. It had nothing
to do with being stuck on an
island, but he'd opened himself
up to me.

"I think about my dad and realize
with your own experience, we're
not that much different," I said
once we were off the bed and
getting changed.

"Yours never physically hurt you.
He treated you like a princess. I
don't see how we're similar."

The one time Dad did get physical
was enough to let me know that if
he saw me again he would quite
happily kill me. I didn't tell
Tomas that part of the story. And
as I got ready to go out, that
was the reason I needed time to
process what had happened over the
last few days. I discovered
Tomas was a wolf and that I was wanted dead. It had been so heavy
on me that memories of the past
had shifted to the back of my
mind.

Once I had my dress on and faced
him, I saw his concerned
expression, as if he'd thought I
was keeping something back from
him.

"No. He never laid a hand on me
because I was his perfect princess.
I did everything he said I
should do, so he had no reason to
hurt me, until now."

He inhaled sharply. "Why?"

"Because he probably thinks that
I've ratted him out to others
about what he did with his brother.
Once word like that comes out,
then we know what could happen."

"Yes. A man who happily slaughters
members of his family is a
monster."

It was stupid in the dark world
called Bratva, which was full of
selling and taking drugs,
prostitution, arms dealing, and
the rest of it. But there was
some kind of code. Not with
everything, but a few things were
held sacred, and this was one of
them.

"Some guys, like Ivan, think of
men who kill women and children
as devils."

I chuckled, thinking we must be
talking about different Ivans.

"Ivan Volkov?"

He nodded. "The same one."

Wow, sometimes I think that
nothing can surprise me, then
something like that does.

He put his hands on my shoulders
and said, "Dorogoy, don't go too
far."

He was trying to smile and act like he wasn't concerned, and
failing miserably.

I craned my head up higher to try
and reach his six-foot-two-inch
frame, which was hard for me,
unless I stood on a step or two
above him.

"Here." He pressed his lips
against mine, stopping me from
straining my neck.

As he pulled away, I smiled, but
I was worried at the same time. I
had to go out by myself, so I
simply nodded to him as I left
the room.

Tomas was right, I shouldn't go too far, because as much as I was
trying to act like a big girl and
all that, I was scared. Frightened
ever since he mentioned my dad.
I'd lied to Tomas, but I knew if
I told him the truth, he wouldn't
forgive himself for turning to my
dad, and he wouldn't forgive me
for lying.

And for some reason, that bothered
me more than anything ever had
before. Funny. I had never cared
what Tomas thought of me. Now, I
wanted more than anything to
please him and see him happy.

I put on my sandals and then
headed through the door. I ran
down the stairs and then, before I knew it, the sand started to
run through my sandals. Usually, I
would take them off as soon as I
hit the stairs, but this time, my
idea wasn't to head to the beach
but through the woods at the
back. It didn't take long for me
to get tired from walking before
I found myself drifting from the
beach and into the woods. I
didn't want to go this far from
the house, but the memories and
thoughts I was fighting so hard
made me feel restless and unable
to make sense of anything.

"My baby girl is leaving me. Soon
she'll be in America with those
wolves." Dad smiled as he walked
into his office with me trailing behind him.

I stood coldly by the door. I'd
hoped not to see him. I'd hoped
he wouldn't turn up at my uncle's
funeral. But he did, and it made
me hate him even more.

"Anywhere to be as far away from
you as possible. The sight of you
makes me sick."

"Printsessa, why do you talk to
me like that?"

I moved closer to him. There was
so much hate and anger inside of
me. I hated my uncle for staying,
for knowing that his big brother
could kill him, and for allowing