Chapter 14: Jeremy Stanton vs. Ryan Hicks Feral attraction in the midst of hatred… Horrible mistake!

***

‘Stand down, everyone. Don’t harm the white wolf.’ Philip desperately instructed the warriors through his mind-link. He knew for a fact that some of the warriors were already chasing after Ryan.

‘But he’s trying to escape, Sir.’ One of the warriors said, sounding surprised at Philip’s command.

‘The alpha will take care of it. I repeat, stand down.’ Philip growled.

Stan, the head warrior chuckled. ‘Well let’s hope my squad doesn’t maim the idiot too much with their arrows.’ He said, not sounding too concerned.

‘Stan, no arrow should hit that wolf.’ Philip reduced his link to just the head of the warriors who was also a close friend of both Jeremy and Philip. The three of them were very close, with Stan being the joker amongst them. As the head warrior, he thrived on violence. But he was also very good at what he did.

‘Jeez. Don’t get your panties in a twist, Lip,’ Stan chuckled. ‘An arrow won’t kill the fool. Why are you so fussy over that…’

‘I’m being fussy because he’s the alpha’s mate,’ Philip finally screamed through the link.

‘What did you…oh shit.’ Stan was screaming orders at his team even as he transformed and dashed off after his warriors.

***

Jeremy heard the howl of misery from his mate and howled right back. His wolf was furious at him but they both knew they had to work together on this one. He knew he could have handled this whole thing with his mate better if he hadn’t allowed himself to switch off. Fuck! He clearly remembered his wicked thoughts about his mate whilst under the influence of the Ojah power. He couldn’t believe he’d actually considered killing his mate. That was sick and he could never have ever contemplated that no matter how much he disliked the fact that his mate was male. Not being strong enough to resist losing control had cost him a lot. And Jeremy had no idea where to even start rectifying the problem at hand.

‘I swear if you don’t make things right with our mate, by Luna I’m going to tear you up from inside.’ His furious wolf growled, making Jeremy cringe inside. ‘The pain I will inflict on you whilst taking your life will come nowhere near what you did to him.’

That was the first time he’d been threatened by his wolf and Jeremy knew his wolf meant every word. He also knew he deserved it. After all, losing his mate meant the end of his wolf’s and eventually his own life. So his wolf would have nothing to lose if he actually did as he’d threatened.

Jeremy had never acted so cruel towards anyone before, unless of course he was in battle or faced with a mortal enemy…which as far as he was concerned, Ryan sorta was. A hunter killed his father and brother for fuck’s sake. Well, time to find out exactly what Ryan had been up to on his property. Jeremy opened up his mind-link to his mate and started pushing gently…pleading with him to stop running and wait for him. But his mate kept right on running because he obviously didn’t even know what the mind-link was all about. Jeremy growled in frustration. At least he’d closed the gap between them considerably so he knew that he was going to catch up with Ryan soon. When the alpha rounded a corner and saw his mate lying between two boulders, whining painfully, he almost passed out with dread. Ryan was obviously hurt.

‘Don’t move Ryan.’ Jeremy said softly through their link as he circled his mate. Ryan’s leg was stuck in a hole but it didn’t seem to be broken. It was twisted in a rather unnatural way though.

Jeremy wanted to transform back into his human form and pull Ryan’s stuck leg out of the hole but he knew there was no way Ryan was going to allow him to touch him if he was human. His mate hated him…. And with good reason too. The huge red wolf tentatively went closer till he was standing over his mate who had begun to growl despite his pain.

‘I’m just trying to help.’ Jeremy said softly through their link. ‘Please let me help you. Please Ryan.’

‘Don’t you dare touch me you monster. If I should die right here right now, I’m sure you’ll throw a party in the next… oh fuck…’ He gasped in pain.

‘Ryan please...’ Jeremy was getting desperate. Now that he was himself, watching Ryan in pain was killing him. But he also knew he couldn’t touch Ryan without his permission. ‘I’m so sorry for all that has happened, Ryan. So, so sorry.’ But Ryan remained quiet.

‘Let me help you please.’ Jeremy couldn’t keep the pleading out of his voice.

After a very long silence, Ryan finally spoke through their link. ‘I’m not a freak.’ He said quietly, trying very hard not to think about the pain in his leg.

‘I never said you were a freak.’ Jeremy protested. ‘I said it was freaky.’

‘Same shit. Don’t insult my intelligence.’ Ryan said in a quiet voice.

‘I’m sorry. It just took me by surprise that’s all.’

For the first time since he became a werewolf, Ryan didn’t have any desire for Jeremy. In fact, he couldn’t even stand the sound of his voice. But for his stuck foot, he would have stood up and kept some distance between himself and the arrogant, sadistic prick.

Jeremy cleared his throat on their mind-link. ‘I can hear you, you know. Ryan, we need to get your leg out of there so you can heal.’

‘What do you care?’ Ryan sneered. ‘Tell me… are you getting hard with the thought of me being in pain? Why do you hate me so much?’ He asked with so much pain in his voice.

‘Because you’re a hunter, okay?’ Jeremy responded exasperatedly. ‘I hate hunters because you are murderers. You hunt and kill innocent people.’

‘What the fuck are you talking about?’ Ryan couldn’t help the surprise in his voice. ‘I’m a college professor. I’ve never hunted anything in my life. I love animals. I study them. That’s my job.’

‘So what were you doing on my property?’

‘Some kid I teach wanted to show me a new species which he said was going to blow my mind. They assured me that that part of the property was open to the public.’

‘Fuck.’ Jeremy swore. Ryan was being truthful. ‘Shit.’ Ryan didn’t miss Jeremy’s words. Somehow he could sense the other wolf’s misery. Jeremy had made a mistake.

‘So it’s just as I thought. All this sadistic treatment was not because I trespassed. I was mistaken for some hunter? Why would anyone want to hunt this close to town? They may hurt someone. I’m not stup… Wait a minute… you meant hunters who hunt your kind didn’t you? I didn’t even know you existed, how much more… Are you fucking kidding me?’

Jeremy cringed inside his wolf. ‘I’m sorry.’ The alpha wolf said quietly.

‘I kept telling you I’d done nothing wrong. Now, look at what you’ve done to me. You’ve turned me into an animal. My whole life I’ve stayed out of trouble. Kept to myself. Now, this. All because some arrogant fool couldn’t listen to me for a second.’ Ryan’s wolf whimpered as Ryan’s emotional pain spiraled. The only reason Ryan wasn’t crying at that very moment was because he was in his wolf form. ‘Now I’m ruined. Tell me you can restore me not just to my human form, but to my original self. Please.’