My breath hitches, and I know my eyes are blown wide. I push the dagger slightly closer to his neck, and it’s so sharp, a drop of blood trickles down his throat. “I will do it. I’m not the weak human you have me down as.”
“Something that you don’t know about me is that I like it. Pain, that is. Push harder.” He grunts, his eyes darkening to an impossible red. I feel him against me, and he isn’t joking, as something very big and hard presses into my stomach. “Make me bleed, Hopeless. I’ll bleed for you, and I’ll fucking enjoy it.” With a yelp, I stumble backwards as he disarms me in one swift move. “Next time, be quicker. Hesitating will get you killed in this world.” He slides the dagger into one of the spare clips on his waist. I’m surprised he has any space when he is armed to the teeth. “When I gave you the weapon, it wasn’t to use on me.”
“You were never specific.” I shrug. “Can I have it back?”
He ignores my request. Shocker. “Here’s what we are going to do, lass. You’re going to walk up to that door, knock on it, and run back to me. They’ll follow you out of the house, and I’ll kill them while you stand there and do nothing. The house could be a trap, so no one goes in. Understood?”
“Fine.” I mentally blacked out after he said I’d walk up to the house full of wolves that are likely going to try to kill me, and knock on the door like a fool.
“Remember your little drake friend and your deal with my uncle? You’re doing this to give her years of life, remember?” He reminds me of the deal, of the mark on my neck. I feel his eyes looking at it right now. “No one escapes the magic of that mark, or the promise you make to him.”
“I’m doing this to give her a complete life as a human.” I straighten my shoulders. “I haven’t forgotten, and you don’t need to keep reminding me of when you burned the mark into my neck and used my only family to manipulate me. I remember how we met. I always will.”
Something flashes in his eyes, and he growls low. “Just go.”
I shake my head and turn around and stomp through the forest. The smell of smoke is thick in the air as I keep an eye on my surroundings, just in case they are outside. Still, my traitorous mind focuses on Blackfire liking pain.Who likes pain?Psychopathic wolves that I happen to be living with, is the answer. How did this become my life?
I nearly slip and fall down the trench that leads to the front door, but my dignity somehow keeps me upright. I square my shoulders and lift my hand and knock. The door is wrenched open within seconds. One of the chosen that I don’t particularly recognize answers the door. Two other voices shout out, “Who is it?”
His hair is blond, eyes bright hazel, and they widen as he looks at me and then behind me in suspicion. “Lost, pretty girl?”
I barely hold in the urge to roll my eyes. “Nope.”
“You’re the human. We’ve been looking for you.” The blond grins. “You’re prettier up close; no wonder the heirs are protecting you. I bet you’re a good fuck for a human.”
My nose scrunches in disgust. “Blackfire’s out there, and he’s hunting you. Good luck.” I pat his shoulder and jump under his arm, sprinting straight through the house.
“Hopeless!” I hear roared from the forest. I don’t know whether he’s saying it as my nickname or whether he’s actually saying I’m hopeless for not listening to a word he said. Probably the latter, knowing him. I don’t even get far in my plan to escape back to my cabin and hide. A man I don’t see grabs me by my shoulder, and he throws me straight into the wall. I smack into it with a yelp, tasting blood in my mouth, and my ears ring. I crawl backwards, away from the man as he reaches for me again.
Blackfire’s grunt echoes, and I risk looking, spotting him fighting two men. The blond, who is throwing water about, and another man who has flames dancing up his arms. Blackfiremoves as if it’s a dance, swift and well-trained, and they barely touch him. This is the general of the Crone Pack; this is the feared warrior I was warned about. He pounds into them with no weapons or magic, and their cries soon echo loud enough for the goddesses in the sky to hear.
“We’ve been looking for you,” the man I’d almost forgotten about murmurs. His head is shaved, tattoos like waves on a shore cover his face and neck, and his eyes are hazel like his blond friend. He is big enough that I know I’d die in a fight with him.Blackfire, hurry the fuck up.I don’t even have my dagger to defend myself with.
“Yeah, your blond friend said that.” I cough, tasting blood in my mouth. I crawl backwards across the floor into the kitchen, towards where I can see a door that leads back out to the forest.
“If I kill you, then I’ll be rewarded by my alpha.” He sounds so pleased with himself, like I’m already dead.
“I don’t know who told you that, but it’s very unlikely you will be. Alphas aren’t the good guys, buddy.”
The smell of smoke starts building in the air, and he lifts his hand up at me, and I start choking. He doesn’t need to fight me, I realize with horror, not when he has magic. Water fills my mouth, fills my chest, and I try to cry out, but no sound leaves my mouth. The water has appeared out of nowhere, and I struggle, dribbling on the floor as I convulse. His smile is nothing but horrid as he leans down and touches my face. “I will cut you up and take a part of you back as proof. You can thank your master—” His eyes go wide.
“Death will not thank you for touching what is mine.” I know that voice from my dreams. He is here. My monster steps out from behind the man, holding his heart in his palm. There is now a hole in the man’s chest, and he coughs blood once, just before my monster sinks his teeth into his neck. I watch in horror as hedrinks from him before pulling his mouth and teeth away with a rip. The man falls onto the ground next to me.
I cough immediately, throwing up all the water in my chest onto the floor next to the body. Two men run into the room, and I’d guess they are the selected. My monster looks down at me, his wings spreading out to block their view of me. “Run, I’ll find you.”
I don’t need to be told twice. I stumble to my feet as my monster takes on the men, and I run to the back door. My feet pound across the ground as I head for the trees, and I slam right into Blackfire. He grabs my shoulders, steadying me, and I push away from him. I take a few steps back. There is so much blood on Blackfire, dripping from his leather clothes and the heavy mask, and the air is tinged with the smell of amber and fire.
“Don’t run from me.” His growl peppers over my skin. A threat. A warning that sends heat coursing down my spine.
The problem is, Blackfire never sounds this worked up. He is always in control, painstakingly so. I cock my head to the side. “Or what?”
Why is my voice like that? All breathless and strange.
The air feels thick with tension as his jaw clenches once. Twice. “Hopeless, don’t you fucking dare run when my wolf is this worked up. We will hunt you.”
He should know by now I’m not going to listen to him. I’ve been running from him since we met. I might have grown up with humans, but even I know running from a wolf shifter is a bad idea. Still…better than staying with the wolf who nearly got me killed. With a whoosh of leaves, I sprint out of the forest and into the thick grass field to our left. I hear him, like an echo chasing me in the wind. One single word, followed by a long growl. “Fuck.”
I don’t get far before a massive black wolf slams into me, taking us both down, and I roll over to face him. His fur is thickerthan I thought, and softer, even as black flames like wisps dance between his fur. Several of them leave his fur, dancing down my arms and into my golden hair. His wolf sniffs my chest with his wet nose, and I freeze, unsure what to do. Will he hurt me? Likely. Is getting eaten by a wolf a good way to die? Nope. Nope. Nope. Luckily, it isn’t a problem I have to worry about because Blackfire’s wolf is thrown off me, and my monster stands at my feet. He leans down, picking me up into his arms, his wings stretching out wide. Blackfire growls, and it’s so loud it hurts my ears. My monster looks down at him and smirks. “Don’t hunt what is mine.”
