The small smirk that alights his face makes my heart skip a beat, so much more relaxed than what I’ve dealt with from him up until now. “Happy to disappoint you, princess.”
Guiding me in front of him, he smacks my ass, urging me to proceed him on the path down the rocks rather than throw me over his shoulder. It’s a small thing, but means so much, which I can always count on him for. He’s the kind of guy that would be the first to trip me in a race, but also the one to chastise me for not anticipating people to play dirty so I’d be prepared when facing off with someone crueler than him; training versus shielding. It may be annoying at times, but I love him for it, for understanding that if you really want to protect someone, it’s not about your pride wanting to be their savior, it’s about helping them not need to be rescued in the first place.
“Please, feel free to disappoint me more often. It’s practically foreplay.”
He huffs a laugh, following me as I pick my way down the rocky path. As should be expected at this stage of my life, the jump to the next boulder has my foot slipping out from beneath me, and the subsequent events should make the record books for the most unspoken, coordinated save in history. There’s no way that Hunter can grab me without the rest of my body slamming against the rocks and us both tumbling down the steep, brutal incline, so he throws every bit of trust into his shove as he dives after me, pushing me as far away from the hill as possible.
I hurtle towards the ground faster than I knew a human body was capable of, the air rushing out of my lungs as I land in Leo’s arms. Heartbeat thundering in my ears and breathless, I risk a look at him to find terror and fury warring for dominance on his face.
“Fuck, karma has some seriously poetic timing. None of you are ever going to let me live this one down, are you?”
He exhales heavily, crushing me to his broad chest. “Definitely not. Keep your ass on the ground from here on out, understand?”
Grimacing, I counter, “Where all of the horny, evil wolves are? No thank you, good sir, I think I’ll work on perfecting my climbing skills instead.”
His fingers tighten once before passing me off to Sebastian, immediately dropping to a crouch and scrubbing a shaky hand over his face. Hunter is there a few seconds later, slamming into the ground with a jarring thud and his trademark scowl firmly back in place.
“Will you stop doing shit like that?!” he shouts, stealing me away from Sebastian. “If you want to be the death of me, I promise, there are ways to accomplish it without nearly killing yourself, too.”
I don’t offer any protest as he drags me against him, his heart hammering away against my ear as he struggles to calm down. There’s not a single word I could say to put him at ease, so I don’t even insult either of us by trying. I know that I messed up and scared the hell out of him, but it doesn’tfeellike I did anything wrong, and the expected guilt never appears. Scrunching up my face, I try to make sense of what’s flagging in my brain. It’s not the first time since showing up here that this has happened, yet, once again, the muddled thought disappears before I can make sense of it.
So rather than risk scattering the pieces even farther as I attempt to grasp them, I blurt things out before I can give the words any consideration. This way, even if I lose my train of thought and get distracted partway through before I can figure it out, they’ll have heard where my thought process was at and can pick it up themselves.
“I think there’s something about this place that’s keeping us from thinking clearly.”
All four of them look at me like I’m nuts, but the displeased rumble in my head and my conviction slipping away from me is validation in itself. “Think about it. You’re willing to put up with all of this bullshit despite having decent numbers on your side? Strength? It doesn’t make any sense. Why would hundreds of men that are starving, miserable, and borderline desperate, let someone beat them into submission when they’re on the brink of death anyway? Sure, he’s got blackmail over most of your heads, but that doesn’t matter if he’s dead. And he was willing to trade off my mother to keep the peace, when neither peace nor taking over the mountain like some evil overlord seems to be his goal at all.”
Somethingis going on, but the harder I try to focus on figuring it out, the faster it slips through my metaphorical fingers, leaving me no better off than I was before.
“Breathe.”
Nails biting into Hunter’s arm, I close my eyes and draw in a deep breath, then another. My tumultuous thoughts fade away as they’re replaced with flashes of images and impulses that I pull from Hunter, taking over my central focus. It allows my subconscious to contemplate the current problem indirectly, and now that I’m not looking at the issue head on, it isn’t as challenging to hold onto those thoughts.
“Nothing involving wolves is ever as simple as it appears; seeing isn’t really believing. After all, it isn’t the fantasies in dreams that make them magical, it’s the way they make you feel long after you’ve woken up.”
The veiled help is swiftly followed by the emergence of a figure through the trees, approaching at a steady, casual pace. Brown eyes a few shades lighter than his hair pin me in place even across the clearing, and his determined, self-righteous air is testament enough to give him away as Acheron Wilder. Someone that radiates power with all of the time in the world at his hands, carrying a presence that’s recognizable even from a distance and without the need to be introduced.
“Hunter.” Merrick’s soft, yet adamant tone helps jolt me out of my reverie. “Take Sabrina home, will you?”
The fact that he doesn’t argue speaks volumes, but we only make it a short distance before Ash’s voice booms out, “Merrick! I’d heard rumors, but such incredible stories should be taken in stride until confirmed with one’s own eyes.” Changing trajectory, he approaches the two of us instead, our opportunity to escape grinding to a screeching halt. A cheshire grin gradually rises upon his face, and with it, my gut turns to lead. “But it seems that the rumor mill is true. Our lost little pup, finally home at last.”
“Ash.” Merrick tips his head respectfully before stepping up to my free side.
“Sabrina, is it?” The twist to his lips gives him away, as if he’s in on some joke that the rest of us are excluded from. And the fact of the matter is... that’s absolutely the case. If he issued the murder of my father, he damn well knows exactly who I am. There's no coincidence on Earth random enough to negate the fact that he had a hand in what happened to me. Even with as muddled as my thoughts are, I can hold onto the root of the problem bothering me, and every sour thought leads back to the man standing in front of me with a smug grin.
“That’d be correct. SabrinaLaroque,” I emphasize with sarcastic enthusiasm, not bothering to extend a hand. “I would say at your service, but it feels wrong to lie to the face of someone I’ve only just met.”
Hunter’s fingers tighten against my waist, but he doesn’t say anything to try and get me to watch my tongue. He merely takes a subtle step in front of me as he tucks me firmly against his side while I verbally poke at the man that’s tormented him throughout the entirety of his life. All it would take is a split second and he’d be able to shove me behind him, try to give me a head start if it came down to it, but we both know that it would never be enough.
Once the devil sets his sights on you, there’s nowhere you can run to that he won’t be able to follow.
His smile only grows as he languidly rakes his gaze over me. “Laroque? I heard you’ve mated into not just one pack, but four. A bit complicated, that. Do you hyphenate, pick the strongest pack to identify yourself by, or have them all take on yours? Decisions, decisions. I certainly don’t envy you with that complicated mess.”
Lips pressed into a firm line, I remind myself to rein in my temper since everything about this conversation already attests to the fact that he’s hoping to agitate me into doing something stupid.
“Yet to be decided. Slaughter has a pretty nice ring to it as well.”
As if he were hoping for such an answer, he tilts his head to me before his smile instantly falls as he turns to address Merrick and Leo, both rigid with tension. “Tell me about the issue with the latest shipment.”
