Stolen Fate

Chapter Fifteen - Captive

Chapter Fifteen

Captive

Lucas carried his bloody and bruised body proudly down the streets and to Krishna’s hotel. The closer he got, the brighter the flashing reds and blues lit up the early morning hour. He knew he shouldn’t venture too close, not given his current state of appearance, but his mind instantly thought of Krishna, and we worried the cops were for her.

He should have known better, really. Krishna was part wolf; capable of getting out of most situations. But that didn’t stop his stomach from dropping to his feet, or bile to rise in his throat when his eyes crossed over the body, obviously dead, lying on the sidewalk. She was raven haired – the victim – pale skinned; she looked like a broken china doll. At first glance, she could very easily have been Krishna. But the blood didn’t smell right. It was sweeter; much sweeter, than the blood than flowed through Krishna’s veins.

Sometimes, Lucas could really despise his wolf. When he first learned of his monster, he was angry. Angry his father would keep such a blessing from him. For the first time in his life, Lucas felt empowered; strong. But even with the perks, there was a down side to having superhuman senses and abilities.

For instance, the scent of human was much more prominent.

Merging through the small crowd of on lookers, and the couple dozen officials, Lucas quickly realized the scents that lingered all around him – the scents of the humans – was not something he ever associated with Krishna. He knew there was a high possibility the reason for the anomaly lied with her wolf half, but something in his gut hinted that her second half, the one she had yet to explain to him, was not the human he assumed it was.

If there was ever a time he hated his wolf, it was now.

* * *

Krishna slipped in her room and slowly closed the door behind her. Her mind had yet to catch up with her body, as it lingered on Riley’s lips, and how wonderful they felt against her own. Never had a kiss packed such a punch and a part of her hated that she turned and left, tail between her legs.

It was simply that fact, no kiss had ever felt so ... right, that made her leave. Quite frankly, it scared the hell out of her.

Still, as she turned the knobs of the bathtub on, she couldn’t help but feel empty. It was a feeling that she never once enjoyed, and one she had felt most of her life. When she was forced to leave yet another foster family behind, when she started at yet another new school and realized she would never fit in, when she thought about her real parents and their ultimate sacrifice that gave her life ... and when Riley’s lips left her own.

How could one man; one small, and otherwise insignificant, kiss mean so much to her? And so soon?

As she freed her body of the clothing she wore and slipped into the hot, steamy bath, she silently prayed that whatever pull she felt towards Riley went beyond his creature. With all the disappointment she had been dealt in her life, learning the lust she was quickly developing for this man was nothing but a default of his chemistry would surely destroy her. Of that, she was certain.

A frantic knock at her room door interrupted both her thoughts and her bath, and Krishna was instantly annoyed. She hadn’t the opportunity to work through the events that had just occurred; she wasn’t ready to face Riley. But with her creature being revealed, she couldn’t very well pretend she wasn’t there either.

Slowly, deliberately taking her time, she rose from the water and pulled on a robe.

Lucas didn’t like standing in the hall; exposed, vulnerable, and with the police knocking on all the closed doors asking questions. Maybe it was a mistake to keep forward after happening on the scene out front, but he had to see her.