The Demon and His Plaything

14| The run

She was so late. Godrick was driving her to another spot where she could enter her pack's territory. She didn't have enough time to get back to the pack house and shower before joining everyone so she was angling for an area where there was a creek–it was deep enough she could bathe in it. It was all very risky though.

A progression of dark vans and SUVs caught Samantha's eye as they drove past. An odd feeling stirred inside her. She sat higher in her seat, feeling a disquiet in her chest.

Godrick noticed her unease. "All good?"

"Yeah…" she couldn't explain what she'd felt as the vehicles went past. "Just up here," she guided him to where to stop.

He pulled the car over and rushed to keep up with her as she leapt from the car. Just before the boundary, she turned to him.

"You can't come any further." She pulled her dress over her head. "Can you throw that out for me?"

He looked back at her, distracted by her sudden nakedness, as he took the dress she pushed into his hands. "What?"

"I can't take it home, it smells too much of you."

He looked down at it. "Okay…"

She danced on her feet a bit. She felt the urgency of needing to get back but she ached at the thought of leaving him.

She rushed forward and kissed him. He wrapped his arms around her instinctively.

"Talk more tomorrow," she promised. She took a few steps from him and shifted. She heard Godrick's sharp intake of breath.

Her wolf stared at him. It was tall enough that the top of her head was up to his shoulder. Her wolf dropped to the ground, tucking her legs and dropping her head, a whine coming from low in her throat.

Fuck, Samantha thought, we have to go. The rising full moon was making her wolf's instincts hard to push against.

Godrick dropped to his knees and embraced her around her neck. "It's okay," he whispered. "I'll see you again soon."

They both stood, Samantha's wolf trotting a few meters before looking back.

Godrick stood rooted to the spot, holding her dress. Her wolf howled low and mournfully then grabbed her little backpack, turned and ran.

~*~

Godrick remained there for a long time. He climbed into the car but just couldn't find the strength to leave. He sat there as the sun completed setting, a solemn feeling settling. His time with her was always too short.

Realising it had become nighttime, he sighed and turned the car on to head back to the city. A full vibrating sound brought his eyes to the glovebox, where he'd left his mobile. He languidly reached over and popped it open. Another of those big black vans went past, catching his eye. This one was booking it.

"Yo." He answered as he flipped it on speaker.

"f**k, dude!" Grim exclaimed. "Where you been?"

"I–

"I need my car back. Krig is pitching a f*****g fit. He wants to be picked up–that s**t's going down now."

Godrick felt a chill. "Fuckin' where?"

"I'll send you the location, if you're closer to it just go get him."

Godrick fumbled to check the location–fuck, did it have to do with her pack? He glanced down at the map on his phone as he drove. It was miles further south. He didn't know how big pack territories were.

He quickly messaged her. Let me know when you're safe at home.

The further he drove the bigger the knot in his stomach. He took a small, hidden road, wincing at the crunch and scrapes–this car wasn't made for this type of driving. He was rolling along, his headlights out when someone thumped against the car.

"f**k!" He exclaimed, only relaxing as he saw Krig's face through the passenger side window. He unlocked the car.

"About f*****g time,” The demon snarled as he got in.

"What's actually going on, Krig?"

Godrick couldn't see any way to turn the car around so he switched it into reverse and painfully inched his way back to the road.

"f*****g asshole and his brilliant ideas. Someone has paid us to bring a rival pack down."

"What does that entail?"

"We bussed in a bunch of warlocks and some proper muscle from the Netherworld. We'll see after the dust settles tomorrow if they were successful. Wolves are strong sons of bitches. As if I'm going to be in the front line for that."

Godricks hands tensed around the steering wheel.

"What pack?" He asked though he had no idea what her pack's name was.

"I don't f*****g know." Krig practically pouted, making Godrick want to punch him. "They all sound the same. Full moon, half moon… something moon."

Godrick absently rubbed his mark. They were just punching out of the forest and hitting the city limits.

"Take me to my home?" Krig asked. Godrick just nodded tightly, changing direction, having incorrectly assumed he wanted to get to the Black Diamond.

He pulled up, quickly checking his phone. No message from her.

Krig grabbed the lapel of his jacket, roughly jerking around Godrick to face him.

"What the f**k?" Godrick exclaimed, pushing the other demon off him.

"You don't tell a f*****g soul." Krig seemed possessed, finally realising the risk he'd put himself in by fleeing the attack. His eyes had gone completely black with his feral panic. "You f*****g hear me? You tell anyone you came and got me and you're dead."

"Yeah, sure." Godrick adjusted his jacket. "Now, get out."

Something seemed to spook Krig and he hastily exited the car.

Godrick tried calling Samantha. It went to voice mail. He didn't leave a message.

He called Grim. "Dude, do you know more about what's going down?"

Grim exhaled. "I heard Mos telling my dad–who is not happy–someone made a back door deal with a pack, which in and of itself would have been hella good, but it's to bring down another pack. Which is just insane."

"What pack, Grim?"

Grim was quiet. "You think it could be your girl's pack?"

"I don't know what her pack is called Grim," he snapped, frustrated. "Just–I don't know–it might click if I hear it."

"They're called the Half Moon Pack. They are to the southwest of the city, the border sits there."

"What's the pack that's north of that?"

"Crescent Moon Pack."

Godricks hand went up to his mark. Okay, he breathed out, that had to be hers…

He leant his head back, calming his thundering heart. "She'll be okay."

"Oh good," Grim replied. Godrick had forgotten about him. "Hey," Grim's voice was small all of a sudden. "Could you come hang here at my place?"

"Sure, man. I've got to give you your car back."

Feeling like he'd run a race, his limbs feeling rubbery after the adrenaline, he slipped the car into drive and headed to Grim's place.

~*~

Samantha frantically washed her body in the freezing water of the creek. She dipped her head back to get her hair. She had just pulled her tired body from the water when she felt the push on a mindlink from Derek.

"Where are you?"

At the same time, she could feel her parents trying to mindlink her too.

"I didn't notice the time," she replied lamely. "I'm on my way." She hastily mindlinked and told her parents the same thing. She felt her father try to say something more to her but she shut the link down.

She ran to one of the stashes that sat around the woods and pulled out some clothes. There was a pair of large drawstring shorts and a tent of a T-shirt. She pulled the shirt on, it falling mid-thigh. She put the shorts back into the cache and grabbed her bag, running on two legs towards the clearing where the run would be held.

"Halt!"

First skidding to a stop, Samantha spun around, cursing internally. She'd been so preoccupied she hadn't been paying attention around her.

A young guard approached in human form. "Oh, Samantha. What are you doing out here?"

"I was just over by the creek. I'm going to join the run."

"Oh. Okay. Um…" he hesitated.

"It's okay if you report it, Jack," she told him, finally remembering what his name was. "Cool if I go now though?"

"Of course," he breathed out, relaxing. He turned and continued with his patrol, returning to his duty.

She ran off again. Her body felt so jittery. Her time with Godrick weighed on her and now she was going to be running around for the next few hours. And this was going to be the first shift with Derek's wolf…

She heard the gathering before she saw it. Remembering her backpack, she looked down at it still gripped in her fist. s**t. Her phone was in it but she didn't have time to properly stash it. She quickly sniffed out an old warren at the base of a tree and pushed the bag down into it, hastily covering the opening with leaves.

She punched through to the clearing at the same time that everyone started to disrobe and shift. Her parents shifted, Derek, standing in his track pants looking around for her. His face softened from worry to relief once he saw her, his brow knitting together as he saw what she was wearing.

"Sorry. Sorry," she panted. Her parents wolves glanced back at her, a low growl coming from her father at how late she was. He swung his head forward and took off to lead the run, her mother following close behind. Wolves started to head out, howls emitting from various points ahead.

Derek gripped her shoulders as she fought to catch her breath. "Where have you been? I went to the Alpha floor but couldn't find you–

"Sorry, I– she took a ragged breath. "I went for a walk and then lost track of time and…" she trailed off. She hadn't thought up her excuse properly so she didn't want to get too far down the line in case she said something wrong.

"Why are you wet?" He touched her hair.

"I was by the creek…" She shook her head. "Let's shift. It'll feel nice to stretch out. Been so long since I've had a proper run." She blathered on as she pulled the shirt over her head. Dropping it to the ground.

"Sam…" He obviously wanted to keep talking but her move to shift was focusing him more on the here and now.

She yanked his pants down and he gave a yelp in surprise. "Come on. Let's let our Wolves meet properly."

They'd been on runs before but Derek usually kept with his friends, so they'd never interacted.

She called her wolf forward, concerned she could still feel the moroseness at leaving Godrick.

She shifted and ran a few steps ahead, looking back for Derek before she took off into the woods.

~*~

Derek untangled his feet from his sweatpants as he saw Samantha disappear into the thicket of the woods.

"Wait!" He called. He felt amped and on edge. He'd been so worried about her when he couldn't find her and he hadn't been able to link her, which if she was sleeping made sense but now she said she'd been in the woods. All evening though? And if so, why hadn't she linked him back?

He'd covered for her as Alpha Andrew had been livid. He'd made it clear they had checked her room and she hadn't been there when they left. Derek lied and said she was asleep in his apartment, which made it hard to keep up when she didn't even come down for dinner.

Free of his clothes he shifted and rushed after her. He felt his wolf take charge, the force was a surprise and Derek couldn't wrestle it back. s**t, he thought.

He could see Samantha's wolf ahead of him, ducking in and out of cover as she ran. He would recognise her anywhere but her dark fur blended in with the forest and he had to use his sense of smell to keep the right path when she slipped out of view.

"Samantha wait." He linked her. He was feeling out of control. His need to catch her was crawling inside him, a violent thought that felt alien to him.

Her form stopped just ahead. Having taken them slightly away from the rest of the pack, they were well separated and far from the dwindling sounds of running paws and distant howls of joyful playing.

He slowed as he approached her, his large paws stepping slowly and deliberately. A growl came from him unbidden, his teeth bared at her.

He reeled at the reaction, objectively understanding it was weird and uncalled for. He saw a look of cowtowness flicker across her wolf face. Samantha's wolf's tail went down and a little whine came from her.

Dereks wolf stalked towards her. She went to take a step back and he snarled and bit the air.

"Samantha!" He quickly mindlinked her. "I'm sorry, I don't know what's wrong." He fought to take control, but the feeling of forcing her to the ground became too much for even him to fight. His need to dominate her completely taking over.

"It's okay," she responded. He thought she sounded tired. "Just… don't worry. This is going to be rough but don't worry about me."

Her wolf then did something that made him snap inside. He thought she'd run. That she'd use her alpha strength to beat his wolf's ass and show him who was boss. He was sure that was what should have happened, but instead, she tilted her head and flopped onto her back, exposing her belly and throat.

Dereks wolf was on her in a second. His mouth caught her throat, applying pressure but not breaking skin. He shook her by the throat and pushed a paw down on her snout. She whimpered and curled her own paws in, not putting up a fight.

Seemingly satisfied, his wolf stood back and let her get to her feet. She did so slowly. The moment she was fully up he had pounced on her again, harshly biting the back of her neck and driving her back to the ground.

Goddess. Derek fought to hold back but his wolf consumed all thought.

"It's okay. It's okay." Samantha kept sending to him.

~*~

Godrick kept looking at his phone. He was sure now her pack wasn't the pack that was under attack but that didn't stop him from worrying. She hadn't even seen his last message.

"She'll be on the run, man," Grim broke through his thoughts. They were sitting in Grim's living room, the TV on and on mute with a playlist playing in the background.

"Run?"

"It's a full moon tonight," Grim explained. "They all go on a run, which I guess is why they chose this time to attack that other pack. Their security would be at a minimum and the whole pack would be pretty much in the same place."

Godrick shook his head. "This feels really bad. Like worse than all the shitty things we do…"

Grim nodded. "I know, right? Like what's wrong with blackmail and running protection rings?" He drank some more of his beer. "Receipt of stolen goods. A heist or two. Dad's not super happy, he thinks it's just all the young demons trying to vi for favour to show how much they can contribute."

"I don't want to get involved in all that s**t. I don't want to kill people," Godrick mumbled. He couldn't do that, no matter what his DNA seemed to expect from him.

"Nah. Man." Grim gave him a comforting punch in the arm. "It won't get to that."

~*~

Samantha wasn't sure if it was Derek's wolf sensing the submissiveness of her wolf, Godrick's mark on her or even Godricks scent still on her, but she had expected something full on. She should have warned Derek. Thankfully, she had steered them away from the rest of the pack so no one had stumbled across them in the night.

The sun was starting to rise and she could feel his wolf subsiding. They were lying together and every time she moved his wolf would growl in warning but it was getting softer and less instant. Derek shifted first, his human form coming to life immediately, feeling across her fur, checking the bites he'd made weren't serious. They had all started to heal, but her shift back was slow and painful as all the exhaustion and physical impact piled on.

"Samantha," he cried, pulling her into his arms. All the damage was more obvious now and he was horrified by what he had done.

"It's okay," she croaked out.

"It's really not," he blinked back tears. "I'll get the doctor."

"No!" She cried out, panicked. "Just… help me up. Let me stay at your place. Okay?"

He reluctantly agreed. But he insisted he carry her, to which she agreed on the condition that if they saw someone he needed to put her down. He had found a shirt to put on her.

Thankfully, they didn't come across anyone as she directed him to the back entrance, tipping her hand a little bit on one of the ways she knew how to get in and out of the packhouse without being seen.

He rushed them to his apartment and laid her on the couch. She groaned as he set her down.

"What can I do?" He raked his hand through his hair as he looked down at her. She looked so wiped.

"Run me a bath. And umm… I need food. Lots of protein."

He nodded. He took off to run the bath first. He looked around and then came back. "Do you want something in it? Epsom salts?" He had a bunch for when his training took it out of him.

She shook her head, "Just make sure it's not too hot."

He rushed back testing and adjusting the water. He carried her in, setting her on her feet to help her pull the shirt off. She groaned at lifting her arms. She looked unsteady on her feet so he scooped her up and placed her in.

His heart clenched as she whimpered when the water hit her, her body trembling with effort. He stood there watching as the water turned pink, nausea washing over him.

"Derek," she called, breaking him from his horrified gawking. Her voice was tight. "Food, please."

He shook himself and headed out and down to the ballroom. Breakfast would be served by now. He looked down at himself. s**t. He just had a pair of large shorts on, he could only hope there weren't many others there yet.

There was a spattering of people eating, the main table completely empty. He didn't want to face their families right now. He piled every variation of meat he could see, grabbing a whole carafe of orange juice.

Derek was heading to the lift, when Tom stopped him. He and his mate were walking with their arms around each other, obviously just rocking in from an all-nighter as well.

"Hey, man. How was your and Samantha's first shift together?"

Derek's response died in his throat. His friend looked so happy. Derek could only imagine that meant they'd had an amazing shift together. He made his expression blank, “Yeah.”

"I'm surprised you're the one doing the breakfast run," Patrick added. "I imagine a night with an alpha would be pretty taxing." The other two men chuckled. Derek just gave a non-committal sound.

Derek let them chat on the lift back up, only relaxing after they got off on the second floor.

He rushed back to his room.

"Sam!" He called in shock, seeing she had fallen asleep in the bath, her head tilted to the side, the water level in line with her mouth. She started awake, groaning as she sat herself up in the bathtub.

She raised her arms for him. He hurried forward and pulled her out, setting her on the edge of the bath as he dried her as gently as possible. He grabbed a bathrobe he had in the back of his wardrobe and slipped her into it. He carried her back out onto the couch and set the plate on the coffee table. She stared at it and then slowly picked up a sausage and started to eat it. He poured her some orange juice. After a few hesitant mouthfuls, she started to eat swiftly, gulping the juice down in between. He sat on the floor by her feet, watching her.

After she'd eaten over half the food she sat back and took a few minutes to breathe. Feeling restless, he got up again and found some painkillers and a hand towel so she could wipe her hands and face. The painkillers were extra strong, made for a werewolf's fast metabolism. She smiled appreciatively and curled up on the couch, wincing as she moved.

He knelt back down on the floor, looking her over. "Sam…"

She cracked an eye. "I need to sleep."

He moved her to his bed, hovering still as she sighed and snuggled under the doona. He sat by her side watching her sleep, but he couldn't stop thinking of how he'd brutalized her. He couldn't imagine ever being like that and he was confused as to why his wolf did it to her when he loved and adored her so much.

She rolled over in her sleep, turning her back to him. He swept her hair to the side and saw his bite marks on the back of her neck. It was bruised, with punctures that had scabbed over running down the side of her neck. His eyebrows knitted together as he saw another marking in between the bruising. Swirling lines, it shimmered like an old scar but was darker in colour. He brushed his fingers across it and she whimpered in her sleep. A pit formed in his stomach. What is that?

He felt his father mindlink him, distracting him from studying it further. "Derek. We need all able-bodied Wolves to meet downstairs." His voice was strained.

"Everything okay?"

There was a long pause. "No, it's not."

~*~