Bound to Tasha Page 9

  Every so often, she imagined herself being magically whisked away by a sexy werewolf or a sexy vampire or something. She just wanted to learn more about them. She dreamed about them constantly, hoping that one day she’d get the chance to meet one. But in her heart, she knew they didn’t exist. She may love the supernatural, but she knew none of it was real. It didn’t hurt to dream though, right?

  One night, after the landlord failed to return her call about the bad piping, she decided she needed a drink. She got into her car and drove down the block to the local bar. It was a pretty quiet bar compared to the others around town, but Anya was fine with that. She just wanted to be left alone.

  She walked through the door of the bar and found that it was unusually empty. There was an older looking woman sitting in the corner facing the door, but other than that it was just the bartender. Anya sat down at the counter and ordered her usual drink, a 7 and 7.

  She was vaguely aware of the bar door opening behind her and found herself getting lost in her thoughts as she waited for her drink.

  Where am I supposed to live now? How am I supposed to afford it? There aren’t any other apartments in the area. It was my own fault I went ahead with that place knowing the landlord was an asshole.

  Suddenly a man sat down right next to her at the counter, interrupting her musing. She was about to move away and find another seat, but she stopped when she saw the man’s face. Holy. Shit.

  He was white, with gorgeous, electric blue eyes that seemed to pierce her soul as she gazed into them. He had a tanned, handsome, face complete with a set of cute dimples. She could see his muscles bulging underneath his shirt as he waved to the bartender.

  “It’s on me,” he said in a deep, sexy voice that made her feel like she was floating in heaven.

  He turned to Anya and gave her a perfect, blinding smile. Already Anya found herself entranced with this man. What the hell was wrong with her? She’d never felt anything like this before and she didn’t know what the hell was going on. Her heart was racing at a million miles a minute and she felt a wave of pure desire wash over her body. Even though she knew she was a curvy girl and probably didn’t have a chance in hell with him, she wanted him. Badly.

  She figured it would probably be better if she talked with him first and got to know him before throwing herself at him.

  “S-so why are you buying me a drink?” she blurted, unable to think of anything else to say.

  He continued to smile that incredible smile.

  “Oh I just figured you could use one. My name is Zack, by the way.”

  He extended his hand and Anya took it. Instantly, Anya felt a spark of electricity race down her body. Her heart started to pound even faster as he shook her hand, staring deep into her eyes and creating even more sparks.

  “M-my name is Anya,” she mumbled.

  Her drink arrived and she was grateful she had something to distract her from Zack’s penetrating, entrancing gaze. It was almost like staring into a brilliant white light.

  “So Anya, what brings you here tonight? I’m in here most nights and I don’t think I’ve seen you before. I think I’d have remembered you,” he said, flashing her another smile.

  She blushed.

  “Well I’m some pretty deep shit right now and I just felt like grabbing a drink.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?” He asked, a look of concern flashing across his face. Instantly, Anya grew suspicious. Why would he care? Surely he wasn’t interested in her problems? Why was he even talking to her in the first place? It wasn’t like she looked like a Victoria’s Secret model or anything.

  But she ended up telling him in spite of herself. There was just something about him that gave her comfort and made her feel like trusting him, at least a little.

  “My landlord hates me and I live in a shitty apartment. I have nowhere else to go but I can’t stand living in the place I’m at right now. And worst of all, I’m not losing any weight. I keep trying all these knew diets but they just don’t seem to work. I want to be pretty and skinny, not the chubby, curvy girl I am now.”

  Those last words tumbled out of Anya’s mouth before she even realized what she was saying. She’d never told anyone about her insecurities before, much less a total stranger. But it did feel good to get that off her chest.

  “Well I think you’re beautiful just the way you are, Anya. Fuck what the other girls look like. I think you’re gorgeous.”

  Anya was sure he could feel the heat coming off of her she was blushing so hard. She took another sip of her drink to calm herself down.

  “Do you really mean that? You really think I’m beautiful?” she asked, staring deep into his eyes.

  “Yes, I do. And I have an idea for your living situation, if you want to hear it. I don’t expect you to go forward with it, but I can at least try. And it may be better than what you have going on now,” he said.

  Anya thought about that for a minute. Was this guy just fucking with her? If what he said was true, that he really did have a way to help her out of her current situation, then her life would change forever. She could finally live comfortably and not be under the threat of being kicked out before she was ready. But she was still a little wary. How the hell would he be able to help her?

  “Before I agree, can you tell me what it is you have in mind to help me out with the living situation? I’m very curious and I’m all out of options.”

  “Well there’s a place not too far from here that I can show you if you want to give it a try. You’d be living in a nice big space and there would be only one person you’d have to share with. And it’s very comfortable. I think you’d like it, but I’d have to take you there first.”

  It only took Anya a moment to make her decision. She was still a little wary of this stranger, even though he was insanely gorgeous, but she knew she needed to get the hell out of her apartment. She nodded.

  “That sounds great, when can I take a look?”

  Zack smiled.

  “We can go right now.”

  He took her gently by the arm and led her out the door, into the night.

  “Where’s your car?” asked Anya as she clutched his arm, fully aware of the muscles under his shirt.

  “I didn’t bring it with me. Don’t worry, it’s not a far walk.”

  As they walked down the street, Anya felt her nerves slowly return. She still couldn’t quite believe what was going on. Never had a gorgeous guy randomly walked up to her in a bar and offered her a place to stay. There had to be something else to this guy. Suddenly, Zack stopped walking.

  “Okay, it’s right through there,” he said pointing to a cluster of trees on the side of the road. They’d reached the locally famous Wolf Woods. Even though no one had seen one yet, people said they could hear wolves howling whenever there was a full moon.

  Anya shivered, trying to push the thought out of her mind. As cool as it would be to see a wolf, she didn’t think many would be too happy to see her. Maybe for a midnight snack or something.

  “Your place is in the woods? We have to go in there?” she asked nervously, clutching Zack’s arm.

  He smiled and kissed her on the forehead. Anya felt the heat from his kiss travel all the way through her body and probably would have collapsed if he wasn’t there to hold her up. It was that kiss that made her want to go on.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll protect you from anything in there. Come on,” he said, leading her in.

  Within minutes, they’d reached what looked like a cave in the middle of a clearing. It was huge, at least twenty feet wide.

  “Here’s the place,” he exclaimed, turning to her with a smile.

  She couldn’t believe it. Was this his idea of a joke? Did he think wasting her time like this would make her feel better? Anya wasn’t pleased.

  “A cave? This is what I would live in?” she asked incredulously, pulling away from him and looking him right in the eyes. As annoyed as she was, she couldn’t help but stay entranced by those mesm
erizing eyes.

  He chuckled.

  “Have you been in these woods before, Anya?”

  His question caught her off guard. What did that have to do with anything?

  “No, I’ve never bothered to look around here and everyone says to stay away. They don’t want people going in. Why?”

  “There’s a good reason for that. These woods are bigger than you think. And they hold many dark secrets. What else do you hear people say about the woods?”

  “They say that the woods are haunted. They say they hear howls coming from the woods during the full moons.”

  “Do you believe them?”

  Anya hesitated before shaking her head.

  “I think it’s just people making shit up to scare visitors.”

  He chuckled again, his pleasant voice echoing around the trees.

  “Well they are half right. The woods aren’t haunted. There aren’t any ghosts around here.” His expression turned more serious as he took a step towards her.

  “But the howls are real, Anya. There are other animals that live in these woods. Animals that don’t want to be seen by humans.”

  Anya noticed something strange about the way he was speaking. Don’t want to be seen by humans. That sounded a little strange. Why did he make it sound as though he wasn’t a human himself? The confidence that the drink and kiss had given her had almost completely ebbed away now. Anya was getting scared.

  “What do you mean? Why are you telling me this? What was the point of bringing me here?”

  He stepped back up to her and cupped her cheek with his hand, gently pushing her head upward so that she was staring right into his beautiful, blue eyes.

  “Do you believe in werewolves, Anya?”

  Another weird question. What the fuck was going on? Even though her heart was pounding a million times a second, Anya couldn’t help but let out a shrill laugh. This guy seemed to be completely nuts. What the hell was she thinking going along with him into the dark woods late at night?

  “Of course not. Everyone knows those creatures don’t exist.”

  He shook his head, his expression more serious than she’d ever seen it.

  “No, Anya. We do exist. There is an entire pack of wolves that make these woods their home. Why do you think the people in town hear howls? We can change at will from human to wolf. We’ve learned to control ourselves when we’re turned so that we don’t hurt humans. Our pack has lived in these woods for many years now. And I’m the pack master.”

  He sounded like he was actually serious. Anya couldn’t believe it. Here she was, in the middle of the dark woods with a gorgeous guy she’d just met, and now it turned out he’s completely crazy. She resolved never to talk to strangers again. What a fucking waste of time. But there was still a glimmer of hope burning inside her. He sounded so convinced, she decided to play along.

  “Okay, pack master. Call your pack. If you really are the leader of a pack of werewolves, I’d like to see them. Prove that they exist.”

  He grinned widely, as if she’d said the one thing he wanted.

  “I was hoping you’d ask.”

  He gave a sharp, high-pitched whistle through his fingers. Anya waited, still more scared than she’d ever been. But there was anger there too. How could she have been so stupid? When nothing showed up after a couple minutes, she finally lost her patience.

  “All right, I’m done with this. If you aren’t playing some sort of sick joke on me, you seriously need to get help. Because-”

  She broke off, staring in horror at the trees in front of her as shadows began to emerge. Shadows of wolves.

  Anya couldn’t move. She was frozen in place with fear. She clutched Zack’s arm now as more and more wolves moved into the clearing. She noticed some of them were staring at her, drooling. These wolves weren’t normal sized, either. They were much bigger than regular wolves. Some even stood on two legs, taller than any human.

  Once they had all arrived, Zack raised his hand.

  “My pack! We have a human here, Anya. I’ve brought her here to show her our pack in hopes that she may one day join us. If she does agree to become one of us, will you accept her?”

  All at once the wolves howled. They howled so loud, people across the country probably heard it. Anya had no idea what was going on, but she knew one thing. She would never join them. She needed to get the fuck out of there, and fast.

  Zack waved his hand once more and the wolves slinked back into the woods. He turned to her with his hands on her shoulders, comforting her. It helped: Anya’s felt her heartbeat slowly return to normal, but she still wanted out.

  “G-get me out of here,” she mumbled half-heartedly, startled at how high-pitched her voice sounded.

  “Anya you have a chance here to join us, to become one of us. You don’t have to become a wolf if you don’t want to. I’m not going to force you. But it’s a good life. You can live in that cave with me, just the two of us. You can still go to school or work or whatever you want to do. And you’ll learn to be part of the pack.”

  As he spoke, Anya once again found herself sucked into his amazing eyes. She found herself slowly starting to agree with what he was saying. What would it be like to become a werewolf? To change at will? It was what she’d always wanted.

  “Show me the cave.”

  He smiled and took her by the hand.

  “It’s very comfortable. And like I said, it would just be the two of us living in there. You wouldn’t even have to see the rest of the pack unless I call for a meeting. You’d be very happy here.”

  He led her into the darkness of the cave. The temperature seemed to rise as they walked through. Zack was right. It already felt really comfortable. When they reached the end of the cave, Anya realized that there was not much difference between this cave and her apartment. It looked almost exactly like the inside of the house.

  Actual light from light-bulbs illuminated the cave. She saw a TV in the corner with a couch in front of it, a mini-kitchen on one side, two beds in the back, and even a smaller cave on one side with a shower and toilet. There was a fucking bathroom in a cave in the woods. Her jaw dropped. It was just like her apartment, only she wouldn’t have to worry about her asshole landlord or the bad plumbing or anything.

  “How is this possible?” she asked incredulously.

  He chuckled, a twinkle in his eye.

  “You’ve just seen a pack of werewolves and that’s what you’re asking about? Since I’m the alpha male, I get the best cave in the woods and all to myself. Luckily for you, there are two beds in here so I can fit another person in here. We’ve got running water, the TV works, and I can get you anything you want.”

  She turned to him, a look of surprise and wonder on her face.

  “This is perfect. But I have one last question. Why are you doing this all for me?”

  “I told you, Anya. I can tell you’re a very special girl. You may not be skinny like some guys would like. But there’s something about you that I want. And I know you’d make a great addition to our pack. Even if you don’t want to become a wolf, you can still live here with me. Just say the word and I’m yours.”

  Anya felt herself slowly giving in. She knew she needed a place to stay and where better than in this comfy place with the most gorgeous man she’d ever seen? The harder decision was whether or not she really wanted to become a wolf.

  “Okay, I’ll move in here. But give me some more time to think about becoming a werewolf. I’m not sure about that just yet.”

  He gave her the biggest smile she’d ever seen.

  “Take as much time as you need, Anya. In the meantime, let’s get you moved in.”

  The walk back to her apartment took almost no time at all it seemed. They got her car packed with everything she’d need that night. She made sure to give her landlord the finger one last time before getting in her car and driving back to the woods.

  She found a convenient parking spot just outside the woods and left her car there. Zack
gave a short, high-pitched whistle and a few minutes later, four really muscular guys stepped out of the woods.

  “Anya these are the strongest guys in my pack. They’re going to help us get you moved in.”

  Indeed, they proved to be very helpful and it only took a few trips from her car to move everything from her apartment to the cave. When everything was finally where it was supposed to be, she waited for the other wolves to leave.

  “Just a minute guys, I need you to move one more thing out of here,” said Zack, pointing at one of the beds. They grinned at him, picked up the bed and carried it out of the cave.