The Thunder Wolves MC - Anne (book #10)

5

Anne

My meeting was nothing like I expected it to be. By the end of it, I was feeling a little overwhelmed. Not only did I have my regular monthly duties while in town, but I was also given a much bigger project. The owners were selling the company and needed a full audit done before a final deal could be made with the new owners. This was going to take some time, and they wanted it sooner rather than later. If it took me too long to put together, the new owners may change their minds and pull out of the deal. So no pressure or anything, right? I could do this and get everything done. If I needed to, I could have Lexie make a stop at my apartment and check in on Patches for me and stay an extra day or so. But I will worry about that later. For now, I had to focus on one thing at a time.

Sitting down at the desk I used while at this office, I got to work on my monthly duties for this location. Getting everything caught up and into the computer. I normally would end my day around five or so and finish the next day, but I decided to work through. I had a lot to get done. Before I knew it, it was sometime after nine, and I was starting to fall asleep at my desk. Sighing, I shut everything down and decided to head out for the day. I will have to pick up where I left off tomorrow. I wished I had gotten a little further along than I did, but I would have to take what I could get. I got a good amount of my work done and will be able to finish tomorrow morning and get started on the audit.

Heading out, I made sure the building was locked up before driving the couple of miles out of town to the house. Pulling my car up close to the front of the house, I climbed out, pulling my overnight bag out with me from its spot on the floor of my passenger side. Climbing the steps, I thought it strange none of the lights were on in the house. Even though no one could see the house from the street and the place set for days without anyone here, Iron was dead set on having at least one light always left on in the house. He had been the last one to be out to the house and normally leaves the front room or entryway light on. I suppose it was possible one of the lights burned out and that had been the one he left on last.

Letting myself in, I turned on the entryway light, then the front room. Both lights turned on with no problem. I tried a few other lights downstairs, and all of them were good. Shrugging it off, I figured maybe I miss understood him, and he had someone else stop by last, and they forgot to leave a light on. Walking into the kitchen, I opened the fridge and was a little more confused. There were a few food items along with the wine I had left last time. But I shrugged that off as well. Iron had one of the guys come out to help take care of the yard. It was possible they had a key and had left a couple of things for while they were here just in case, they got hungry. I will have to check with Iron in the morning. It was too late to do it now.

Taking one of the wine bottles out, I retrieved my wine glass and filled it halfway. Returning the bottle to the fridge, I took the glass with me, drinking as I went. Shutting off the lights as I made my way upstairs with my bag. I was damn tired, and once the wine hit me, I would not be able to keep my eyes open for long. I didn't really need the wine to relax tonight, but it was nice after such a long day. It may not be the best of habits to have, but I suppose having a glass or two every night wasn't nearly as bad as it could be.

Reaching the top of the steps, I stopped dead in my tracks. It didn't matter who had been here last. There was always one door that was always left closed. Even if we went in and cleaned up a little, the door was always closed. It was more out of respect for Snoppy and keeping his bedroom private. But the door was now partially open. Carefully, I moved a couple of feet to the room I usually stay in. That door was open like it always was. Sitting my bag down inside the door, I reached in, leaving my glass on the dresser inside the door. Pulling my phone out of my pocket, I readied myself to call for help if I needed to. Maybe I should have just called and had someone come over and not walked down to the room to check things out myself. But I didn't. I walked down there, pushing the door open a bit more.

The room was dark, and I couldn't really see much. Carefully, I walked inside, looking around. I got as far as only a couple of feet into the room. A mass of a dark figure moved from the bed right at me. My phone was useless as I dropped it and screamed. At the same time, the dark figure grabbed me, shoving me against the wall. A hand gripped my throat tightly, yet not so tight I couldn't breathe. But still, tight enough, I couldn't get my fingers between the hand and my throat. I tried kneeing whoever was holding me, but they must have expected it because they dodged my knee. Their grip on my throat tightened for a moment as they moved closer to me, pinning me completely to the wall with their body. I was sure this was it. They were stronger than me, for sure, and this was it. I dropped my phone and had no way of calling for help. I could scream all I wanted here, and no one would hear me. There were no neighbors within a mile of this place. I should have called someone and gone back outside and waited for them to get here and not tried to investigate on my own.

The bedroom light turned on, blinding me for a moment. Maybe a couple of seconds before my eyes readjusted to the brightness of the light. The dark figure finally came into view. He was a few inches taller than me, so I had to look up at him a bit. He was wearing only a pair of shorts, leaving his bare chest on display. Along with a few tattoos, one of which was on his arm and looked like the large design on the back of all the MC guys' cuts. The scratch mark with the wolf howling in the back. He had pitch-black hair that was cut short to his head but not so short you couldn't still see the curl in it. His hair nearly matched his eyes, which were the darkest shade of brown I had ever seen. They were so dark they were almost black. His hand loosened from around my throat, dropping so it now rested at the base of my throat, on my collarbone. He didn't move otherwise, still holding me in place.