Wolf’s Heart by Ruelle Channing, Cam Cassidy

slipped him a large tip. Then he was falling all over himself to accommodate.
    “I want a room on the first floor, please.”
    His face lit up, smiling from ear to ear as he slipped the large bill into his pocket. “Yes, sir. Let me get that key card ready.” He swiped the card, coding the room number “Here’s your key card, sir. Room 109, straight down on this side of the building.” He gestured out the front. “Have a nice night.”
    Ryden thanked him and made his way back out to the car to pull around the building to the room they’d been assigned. He backed into the parking space, making sure to note all the exits in and out of the parking lot. Once he had Carlee in the room, Ryden tucked her in the bed, and she fell right back to sleep.
    Her hair had become a tangled mess and he sat there on the bed, watching her sleep while attempting to untangle it with his fingers. The purple streaks she was sporting in place of the yellow ones he remembered lay limp and lifeless across the pillow. He caressed her cheek, brushing the rest of her stray hair back so he could see her features better. For the first time since he’d spotted her standing on the balcony, Ryden got a good look at her face. Her eyes were swollen and her cheeks gaunt, almost hollow. Her skin was pale with a sallow cast along with the bruising and cuts he’d already seen.
    Shaking his head, he pulled up the covers and went back out to grab his bags from the car, then secured the doors and windows. Ryden could go on little to no sleep for days and had no intention of letting his guard down tonight. Instead, he sat in a nearby chair, watching over Carlee while she slept.
    He still couldn’t figure out why he felt so strongly about taking care of her. He’d left her three years ago, broke off the relationship with a phone call, for God’s sake. Yes, he’d missed her, but he had his reasons, reasons that were there still, but somehow, those reasons didn’t seem important anymore.
    Why did his chest hurt the night she was beaten and for days after? It was obvious now that he was feeling her pain. Was that only a week ago? So much had happened since then. So what had changed?
    Even before this all happened, she’d been on his mind of late. Flashes of her heartwarming smile, a joke she’d told, her laughter as they had a few drinks and then a tumble in bed for hours after until they were both exhausted; he could imagine it all as if it had just happened.
    Ryden leaned over and pinched the bridge of his nose then tried to relax in the chair. He wanted to get things sorted out. Instead, his wolf made his stance clear about looking out for this female. The wolf knew what he wanted. Ryden had no clue.
    With the sun finally coming up, he figured he could at least sleep a little and they’d be okay. He curled up beside Carlee, facing the door with his 9 millimeter in his right hand, his left arm lying across her side gently and closed his eyes, willing his brain to shut down, and sleep a little while.
     

Chapter Eleven
     
     
    Carlee awoke in a drug-induced fog and wondered how she got the velour that had her all snug and warm. One eye opened slightly, then the other. Taking in the room, she saw it was much nicer than the last. Mahogany furniture graced the room and a flat screen television was mounted on the wall across from the bed. She moved slowly and touched an arm. Her hand slid up the forearm. It was a male arm, a strong, hairy male arm with a tattoo of musical notes on the inside above the wrist. It wasn’t an electric blanket that had her warm and toasty, it was a man— Ryden ?
    She felt the slow rise and fall of his chest against her back. The scent was pure male, musky and exotic spice. She knew that it wasn’t G, but that didn’t stop the panic that immediately set in. Her heart began to thunder in her chest, and breathing became a struggle as she tried to shake away the cobwebs and figure out how she got there.
    Where am I?  More