Chapter Five:

                Abbey stared at herself in the narrow full length mirror of the hotel bathroom and swallowed hard. The bruises were all yellowing and turning green with age. Her hips, her stomach, her back, her legs…. All bruised so badly from Joseph’s angry fists and feet.    

                She still felt sore in places but for the most part the pain had faded—at least the physical pain. Now the emotional and psychological pain was ramping up. She was alone with her children.

                Completely on her own in a town she knew nothing about with very little money and no idea what to do. She had Joseph’s credit card but couldn’t use it because she knew that Jason would be able to track her if she did.

                Abbey heard Tanner and Audrey talking to one another in the other room and realized they’d woken up while she’d been showering. Quickly Abbey slid into her old worn jeans and her plain blue t-shirt that was far too large and had been Joseph’s. Abbey did not dress to impress—she dressed to hide herself so that Joseph would not get jealous if a man looked too closely at her.

                Taking a deep breath to combat her fears and uncertainties, Abbey opened the door and stepped out into the room.

                “Mommy!” Tanner exclaimed as he launched himself off the bed and ran to her. Tanner always greeted her this way, whether it had been four hours or four minutes since he’d last seen her. Abbey knew she would never get tired of it.

                As she held Tanner tight she watched Audrey on the bed with her two dolls. It sounded as if her dolls were having a fight and she used a deep voice for one of them before having it smack the other. Abbey closed her eyes and nearly cried at the sight before nodding to herself and feeling her resolve strengthen.

                That was why she had run. Children should not see violence between people as a normal part of everyday life. A child deserved to live in a world where families coexisted without ever striking one another.

                “Mommy, can we go to the park today? We can dress warm and wear our scarfs,” Audrey offered.

                “We might,” Abbey agreed. “We have to go check on our truck this morning and mommy needs to see about finding a job…”

                “Where will we go while you’re at your job?” Tanner asked, picking at her wet hair.

                Abbey swallowed hard, “I don’t know yet, baby, we’ll have to figure all that out later.” Abbey sat him on his feet, “Let me dry my hair and then we’ll get dressed and head out, okay?”

                “Okay mommy!” Tanner hopped down off of her and plopped himself in front of the television where one of his favorite cartoons was playing.

                After drying her hair and pulling it back in a pony-tail, Abbey dressed both the kids in their last clean outfit and headed downstairs. They filled their stomachs on the complimentary breakfast of cold cereal, donuts and juice, eating far more than they normally ate at breakfast because it was their first real meal in days.

                Abbey bundled everyone into their coats and scarves and set out into the cold Wyoming February weather. They walked hand-in-hand down the road. This town, Crittenden, was quite small and charming. There were two streets of storefronts, the single hotel and the clinic. The homes were on the outskirts of town and eventually there were no more homes, only open plains and hills. Off in the distance you could see the shadow of the rocky mountains.

                It was a nice place to call home and honestly that’s what Abbey was hoping to do. She wanted to have a home—she wanted her children to have a home.

                She made her way to the garage. Julian had told her that it was five stores down from the clinic and he had ensured her that her truck would be there getting repairs done that morning. She wasn’t sure how her truck had ended up being such a rush job when she was sure there were others but she wasn’t about to complain. After the last ten years of her life, she would take good fortune when it came her way.

                Audrey was singing a song and Tanner was begging her to stop when they stepped into the open garage door and looked around. The office was to the left and Abbey was about to head that way when she realized her truck was on the lift.

                There were four other vehicles pushed to the sides and parked out front but hers was the one being worked on. She was certain those other four, or at least a couple of them, had to have been in front of her.

                “Mommy, look at your truck!” Tanner exclaimed. “It flying!”

                “Yes it is,” Abbey replied, ruffling his blond hair. She led her children to the office since the garage seemed empty and knocked on the wooden door.

                “Come on in,” a man’s jolly voice called from the other side.

                Abbey opened the door and stepped inside to find a man sitting behind the desk with a gray streaked beard and mustache, big nose and sparkling blue eyes. He adjusted the ball cap on his head and stood up when she and the children entered, “You must be Abigail.”

                “Abbey,” she corrected, forcing a polite smile as she shook his hand. Shaking hands was something that was still hard for her. Joseph would not have wanted her shaking hands with this man, or any other man for that matter.

                “Abbey,” he tipped his head and Abbey was surprised when he walked around the desk and knelt down to the children’s level. “And you must be Tanner and Audrey.” He twirled the ends of Audrey’s brunette hair around his finger, “You’re even prettier than Marcus said you were.”

                “Marcus?” Abbey asked with a frown. “Marcus told you about us?”

                “Yes. He’s been here all morning working on your truck and told me to look out for you. I had a couple cars in front of yours but when those DeLuca boys tell you to do something, you do it,” he was smiling with fondness as he spoke.

                Abbey frowned. What was so special about the DeLuca boys that everyone seemed to have so much respect for them?

                “My name’s Ernest by the way and this here’s my garage. It belonged to my grandpa, then my daddy and now it’s all mine. Why don’t you step on out here with me and I’ll show you what we’ve gotten done on your truck so far….”

                Ernest was still speaking as they stepped back out into the garage. He was saying something about breaks, rotors, tires, oil… Abbey couldn’t keep up with his words as he rambled on but she did know it was going to cost a pretty penny.

                “Ernest, I don’t mean to be rude but I don’t have much money and it seems like you’re doing an awful lot….”

                Ernest cut her off with a smile as he adjusted his ball cap, “Bills already been paid, ma’am.”

                “Let me guess…” Abbey mumbled.

                “Yep them DeLuca boys are good people. Marcus brought the money this morning. Did you know they were marines. Saved many a life those two men. They’re true patriots considering the way our country has treated their kind over the years.  Now they look out for the town, help out anybody who needs it, so it’s no skin off my teeth to help them out when they ask.”

                And that included taking care of her truck before anyone else’s vehicles simply because the DeLuca boys said to. Abbey felt a tremor was over her at the thought of those men. It was a good tremor. The kind of tremor that sent your thighs shaking, your core tightening and your pulse racing.

                She felt a prickling sensation in the back of her neck and knew she was being watched. Quickly she turned and instantly her eyes found Marcus.

                He was leaning against one of those tall, rolling toolboxes in a dark blue work uniform that was covered in grease and worn at the seams. The clothes hugged his massive frame. The man really was huge. Nearly two feet taller than Abbey who was barely over five feet tall.

                His gaze was hot and possessive as his blue eyes met her green ones. After the way he had acted yesterday she should be terrified of him but she wasn’t. She was drawn to him just the same as she was drawn to Julian only when she looked in Marcus’s eyes it was different.

                Julian caused a peaceful calm to come over her soul but Marcus… Marcus caused a fire to burn in her unlike anything Abbey had ever felt before. And she felt small, delicate and…. Safe? That was a strange feeling indeed since she had not felt safe in ten long years… not since Joseph had come into her life.  And why would Marcus make her feel that way? He clearly had a temper and he was big enough to kill her with little effort… and he was a werewolf!

                Abbey wondered if perhaps werewolf had magical powers and could influence those around them. It would explain the pull that both she and her children felt toward the men. She would have to head down to the library and research that soon and if these two were pulling some kind of voodoo, magic act on her then she would…. Who was she fooling? She wouldn’t do anything. Abigail Martin didn’t know how to stand up for herself and that was her biggest problem.

                Ten years of abuse and she hadn’t run. Only when Joseph had finally gone too far and put a bruise on their son had Abbey gotten up the nerve to leave him.

                Marcus pushed himself off the tool box and rubbed at his scruffy jaw with his grease covered hand, “Good morning, Abbey.”

                The way he said her name had Abbey’s knees shaking and her mouth moving but yet unable to make a sound. Marcus let out a low growl that Abbey somehow felt deep in her core and then he turned his attention to Audrey.

                Abbey was surprised when Marcus went so far as to crouch down so he was on Audrey’s level. Abbey was surprised when Audrey didn’t shy away from him the way she always had her father especially after what had happened yesterday. Again she wondered about that magic spell these men were very possibly putting on them and it irritated her.

                “Audrey, I need to apologize to you for yelling at you yesterday and being mean. I want you to know that I won’t ever hurt you, your brother or your mom.”

                “Okay,” Audrey replied with a little shrug.

                Marcus suddenly seemed awkward as he nodded and then rose back to his full height, “Okay.”

                “I didn’t know you worked here,” Abbey finally spoke.

                Marcus’s eyes met hers but before he could speak, Ernest was once again talking, “He doesn’t normally. Every now and then he’ll turn a wrench but most of the time he’s working out at the ranch with his brother. But when they brought your truck in Marcus made it clear he was going to be the one working on it. Seems he didn’t trust any of us to do it right.”

                Ernest was smirking at Marcus as he said this and Marcus appeared as if he’d rather be anywhere else. Abbey wasn’t sure what to make of that revelation, “That’s um… nice?” she offered.

                “I just want to make sure you have a safe vehicle to leave in,” Marcus replied quickly as he wiped his hands on his greasy pants—greasy pants that hugged his muscular thighs perfectly.

                Abbey studied him carefully. He was lying. She wasn’t sure how she knew he was lying, she simply sensed it. And it bothered her. Why did it bother her? Why did she want him to care? Why did she wish she had nicer clothes, make-up or nicer hair? She didn’t understand any of this. She was on the run from an abusive husband. She had two children to try to feed. The last thing she needed to be worried about was a sexy as sin werewolf and what he thought of her.

                “Actually I thought about staying here awhile,” Abbey replied quietly as she tucked her hair behind her ear.

                “You are?” Marcus grumbled, his pale blue eyes widening slightly.

                “Yes,” Abbey nodded. She didn’t understand it but this town, even from only the little she’d seen, felt like home, “If I can find a job and a place for my children and I to live.”

                Ernest snapped his fingers and smiled brightly, “There’s a diner about three doors down from here. My sister owns it and if ya tell her I sent you she just might give you a job. She’s always looking for a good waitress.”

                “A waitress?” Abbey whispered. She’d never been a waitress… she’d never had any job. She had met Joseph her senior year of high school and married him just after graduation. He had wanted her to stay at home and she hadn’t dared defy him.

                “Do you want me to walk you down there?” Ernest offered.

                “No…” Abbey shook her head. “No, we can make it on our own.” She took her children’s hands, “We’ll let you both get back to work now. Marcus—“ Marcus let out a growl that sounded somehow hungry when she said his name and Abbey took a step back before continuing, “—thank you for what you’ve done for us,” she added and then she offered a quick goodbye to Ernest and practically fled from the garage, dragging her children behind her.

***

                Marcus watched her go and cursed his urge to chase her. He did not want Julian to be right. He didn’t want to have a mate. He didn’t want to be so drawn to a woman that he felt like nothing without her but he knew damn well that’s what had happened to him.

                He hadn’t realized just how badly he had missed Abbey and the children during the twenty hours they’d been apart until he’d seen them walk into the garage.

                He had filled his nose with Abbey’s summer rain scent and taken in the beautiful sight of her. She was not what he would have chosen for himself but now that he had seen her and touched her any want or need he’d had before was forgotten and gone.

                Her brunette hair that glistened with reds, golds and browns made him yearn to run his hands through it. Her porcelain skin had him yearning to touch, lick, kiss and taste every inch of her—though there weren’t many inches. Abbey was tiny, just barely five feet to his nearly seven.  Her smallness in comparison with him brought to life every protective instinct Marcus had been born with and he’d been born with quite a protective instinct.

                Her body was soft and womanly and he longed to know what it would feel like pressed against his own. What her skin would feel like slick with sweat as they slipped and slid against one another.

                Marcus growled low in his throat, gripped the wrench tighter in his hand and realized that Ernest was laughing at him.

                “You like that woman a lot don’t you?”

                "You need to mind your own fuckin’ business, ya damn nosy bastard,” Marcus grumbled before striding away to Abbey’s truck.

                He got on the ground and slid beneath, stopping suddenly when something under the running board caught his attention. Marcus frowned at the blinking red light attached to some sort of tracking beacon.

                What the hell was that?

                With a growl, Marcus tore it off the truck and slid back out from beneath. He sat up and studied it more closely. This was a GPS tracking device.

                Someone was tracking his mate and children. His abused mate and children. His mate and children that were running from something—or someone.

                Rage boiled in Marcus’s blood. It would be a cold day in hell before he allowed harm to come to them.

                Abbey had some explaining to do.

A/N: Within the next 2-3 chapters this story will be changed to an R rating.