Текст книги "Savage Awakening"

Автор книги: J. Tyler

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Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 16 страниц)

She opened to him, squeezing his balls, hoping to make him lose control. Her efforts met with resounding success. After giving a series of quick thrusts, his body tensed, balls drawing up tight.

“Shit! Coming!”

He tried to pull out, but she held fast to her prize. Surrendering to her wishes, he came with a shout, his seed spurting hot and thick onto her tongue, down her throat. She drank him greedily, not wanting to miss a drop, though it wasn’t easy. The man was loaded with cream and maybe hadn’t enjoyed this in quite a while. Or so she hoped.

When he slumped against the tile, she licked away the last drops, then let him slip from her lips and smiled up into his sated face. “Damn, you taste good, my wolf.”

“What?” He blinked at her as though startled.

“You taste good,” she repeated.

“Oh. Thanks.” Helping her up, he smiled. “I’d love to return the favor.”

“You can, but I did that because I wanted to. I enjoyed it, very much.”

He looked rather proud of that. “So did I, as if you couldn’t tell. You’re amazing, sweetheart.”

She basked in his praise as he grabbed a bottle of shampoo and squeezed some into her palm, then his own. They lathered up, took turns rinsing, then soaped their bodies as well. She had fun sudsing his chest and back, not to mention his groin, making him laugh at her playfulness. He soaped her, too, paying special attention to her breasts, tweaking the nipples to hard peaks. Then he soaped between her legs, making sure to rub the sensitive slit so that she squirmed with arousal.

By the time Aric turned off the shower and handed her a towel, she was a ball of frustrated, excited desire. She needed the edge taken off, and fast.

They dried off and then Aric got out a blow dryer, saying that his hair was so long, it was a miserable, cold, damp mop if he let it dry naturally. Rowan itched to get her hands on his mane, and he relinquished the dryer and brush with a minimum of fuss. She had him sit stark naked on the toilet seat facing away from her, and tackled the glorious tresses with relish. As it dried, the mass was silky and shiny, and he practically purred with pleasure at the attention.

When it was sufficiently dry, she did her own, which didn’t take nearly as much time, then switched off the dryer. “Have you always worn your hair long?” she asked, rolling up the cord and replacing the dryer in the cabinet.

“Except for my years in the Navy, I have. Drives the women crazy.”

“Conceited much?”

“Nah, not me. Truthfully, I just like it this way. It feeds my inner rock star wannabe.”

She laughed. “Sling an electric guitar over your hips and the image will be complete. Love it.”

“See? Works every time.”

“You’re incorrigible.”

“Would you want me any other way?”

“I doubt you’d wear ‘sweet and innocent’ very well, so no.”

Standing, he crowded her against the sink, a position she liked a lot. “Good, because I’ve never been anything but a really bad boy,” he said, cupping her cheeks.

His tongue teased the seam of her lips, slipped inside to play for a few seconds. Then he pulled away and took her hand, making straight for the bed. She crawled into the middle, laughing when he flipped her over as if she weighed nothing and fake-tackled her, covering her body with his. She spread her legs to accommodate him and he settled his weight comfortably, taking care not to squash her into the mattress. She loved the solid feel of him, his clean, crisp scent.

She especially loved how his hair fell around them like a fiery silk curtain. Unable to resist, she twirled a lock around one finger.

“I think you just want me because of my hair.” His grin was teasing.

“Oh, that’s not all. Trust me. But I’m not going to list your assets no matter how much you fish, because your ego is inflated enough already.”

“Not my ego,” he said with a wicked gleam in his eyes, grinding the proof into her belly. “You walked right into that one.”

“So I did.”

With her fingertip she traced the gorgeous scrolled tattoo that spilled over his left shoulder and onto his chest. The snarling wolf’s head in the center was more of an outline than a detailed picture, a silhouette.

“You like?”

“It’s stunning,” she answered honestly. “When the others shifted to human form, I’ve noticed that except for Kalen, Hammer, and Nick, each of you has one somewhere on your body. Even Micah has one.”

His expression darkened a bit. “Yeah, all of us who were attacked and changed years ago, in Afghanistan. We did it when we joined the Alpha Pack, as sort of a memorial to the life we’d lost, and the one we were beginning.”

“That’s sad,” she said softly.

“To us, it was a tribute of sorts. A way to say ‘fuck it’ and move on.” Leaning in, he nibbled her neck. “Let’s not talk anymore. For now.”

“Okay, for now– Oh!”

His teeth scraped along her vulnerable skin, and she felt his canines, sharp and dangerous. God, that was sort of kinky. And a huge turn-on. Suddenly she wanted very much for him to sink his teeth into her neck, though she wasn’t sure why. He didn’t, and her disappointment was lost in anticipation as he continued downward, pausing to capture a pert nipple in his teeth.

She squirmed, buried her fingers in his hair and tugged. He chuckled, sucking and teasing the nub, giving the tiniest shock of pain with the pleasure, then repeated his attentions on the other. Then he kissed a line down the middle of her stomach, pausing where her patch of neat curls began.

Pushing her thighs apart, he rubbed her slit with two fingers. Spread the moisture, looking his fill. The hunger on his handsome face made her feel wanton. Sexy. Excited. So many things she was unaccustomed to in her life. In her job, where she certainly felt anything but womanly. This was different, and extraordinary.

Just like the wolf.

Bending, he tasted her, and a growl of male approval rumbled in his chest. “So sweet, like I knew you’d be.”

“But our dream—”

“Can’t compare to this.”

He was right. No fantasy, even one shared, could compare to flesh and blood. To the warm, strong man whose tongue was working magic, laving slowly, sending the most delightful shivers to every nerve ending. Then he worked between her folds, licking her core. Taking his time, driving her insane. Finally, she pulled at him, almost frantic.

“I need you inside me! Protection?”

“Don’t need it,” he said huskily, moving up her body to position himself. “Shifters can’t catch or pass human diseases, including STDs. And I can’t knock you up, either, unless we mate.”

“Knock me up?” She wrinkled her nose. “Such a romantic.”

“Shh, where were we? Oh, yes—right here.”

“But what do you mean by ma—”

He silenced her question with a searing kiss, easing the head inside, blowing her thoughts to dust. Then he slid deep, his girth stretching her but not enough to hurt, filling her more completely than any man ever had.

Having him inside, fucking her with that huge, naked cock… it was electric. She’d never allowed a partner to do it bare, and God, what she’d been missing! She clung to him, palms spread on his back, noticed that he seemed too warm. But she lost herself in loving the play of hard muscles under skin that wasn’t quite smooth. Ridges? Yes, he had tiny lines, and she recalled the whip marks on his back, evidence of his torture during captivity. She wanted to kiss each scar and make it disappear.

Strangely, the imperfections made her feel closer to him, more connected. For all his strength and special abilities, he wasn’t invincible.

He was a man. An incredible man.

His thrusts gained in power and he held on tight, growling in obvious enjoyment as she licked the salty skin of his chest, nipped at his collarbone. She pulled back a bit to watch his face, eyes closed, lips slightly parted, steeped in bliss. His canines were elongated, the sharp tips just showing below his upper lip, and he made such a sexy picture, it drove her to the edge.

“Oh!” she breathed. “I’m going to come!”

“Do it, baby,” he rasped. “Come on my cock!”

The last of her control snapped and the orgasm swept her in a rush of heady ecstasy. She clutched him tightly, crying out as he shouted, emptying his hot seed. Filling her to overflowing. When their spasms died, he eased to the side, slipping out of her, and gathered her close. With a contented sigh, she rested her head on his chest and wrapped an arm around his middle.

“You were awesome,” she praised.

“Thanks. So were you, sweetheart.”

She frowned. “You’re really warm and your voice is raspy. Are you still running a temperature?”

“Maybe a little.” He gave her shoulders a squeeze. “I’m fine, though. Melina said it would pass.”

“I thought shifters didn’t get sick?”

“I said we don’t catch or pass human illnesses. It’s probably just my body still healing from my stay at Motel Hell.”

Something in his tone gave her pause. She’d swear he was lying, but she couldn’t prove it. She tried a different question. “You also said you couldn’t get me pregnant unless we were mated. How do you know for sure? I placed a lot of trust in you.”

“I know, and I’m grateful.” He kissed the top of her head. “The scientists here at the Institute have been studying us for years now. And Nick is a born wolf shifter, so he brought a lot of knowledge with him when he came.”

“How does mating work with your kind, exactly?”

“Um, from what I’m told, you bite your intended mate and, assuming you’re trueBondmates, you’re stuck together for life and you can never be with anyone else.” She felt his shrug. “Though I wouldn’t know.”

Weird. She’d felt a strong urge for him to bite her when they were making love. Somehow it didn’t seem like a good idea to tell him that now, if ever. He seemed sort of reticent on the subject.

Well, duh. The man was a free and easy wolf. He probably didn’t want a female permanently attached to his side.

“Aric?”

“Yeah?”

“I would never try to tie you down. Just so you know.”

Underneath her, his body tensed. Then slowly relaxed. “Sure. I mean, you’re going to leave when Micah is better. You have a life in L.A. waiting for you. But there’s no reason why we can’t have some fun before you go.”

A vicious stab of pain lanced through her heart.

“Yes, exactly. This is just sex. I just wanted to put that out there. So we don’t get our wires crossed or anything.”

“Sure, that’s understandable,” he said softly. “Sleep and we’ll go see your brother later.”

“Okay.”

But the sandman didn’t come. Rowan remained awake long after her lover’s breathing had evened out.

Just sex. She’d go home, eventually. Returning to her own boring life would be for the best. A life that didn’t include shifters, Fae princes, Sorcerers, gremlins, or evil Unseelies and their pet Sluaghs.

This place was like frickin’ Disneyland on meth. She’d be glad to see all of this madness in her rearview mirror.

Really.

Ten

Aric placed a hand at the small of Rowan’s back and guided her into Micah’s room. After their much-needed nap, they’d awakened semirecovered from the excitement of the Sluagh’s attack, not to mention the incredible life-reaffirming lovemaking that followed. No, not lovemaking.

This is just sex.

The straightforward, no-nonsense way she’d said it had stabbed him in the gut. God, he was still bleeding inside. The fact that he’d been right about her not wanting to be tied to him and the loony bin that doubled as his life was cold comfort. He was playing with fire, literally.

And then he’d have to let her go.

“Micah?” Rowan walked over to take the chair by the bed, and wrapped her fingers around her brother’s.

Aric went to stand behind her and settled his hands on her shoulders. A gesture of comfort, and God knew she needed it. Micah’s eyes were open, muddy and lifeless. He stared into space, either unaware of their presence or too lost in his own hell to acknowledge them.

You caused this, a vicious voice in his head snarled. If you’d only warned Jax about Beryl, this wouldn’t have happened. And half the team wouldn’t be either missing or dead.

The truth was killing him. He would have to confess to his team, and to Rowan. Sooner or later.

“Hey, little brother. It’s great to see you awake again.” She swallowed hard, making a visible effort to be cheerful for Micah’s sake. “I’m getting to know your friends, and they’ve all been super to me. You’ve had tons of visitors and we’re all relieved you’re going to be okay. You know you’re safe, right? It’s okay to be quiet, but we’re here if you want to talk and…”

She chattered on, but Aric stopped listening. Jesus, it was beyond painful. Seeing Micah like this, completely catatonic. But he was far from an empty shell. Aric sensed the rage boiling under the surface of the younger man’s skin, the sadness choking off all speech. Yet as terrible as this was, it gave him hope. Where there were still emotions, there was hope.

If those emotions died, so would Micah.

“Do you think it’s the medication?”

It took Aric a moment to realize Rowan was addressing him instead of her brother. “I believe so. My wolf senses his emotions, and it seems they’re being suppressed right now.” He stroked her hair. “It’s for his own good, just until he can handle reality.”

Nobody wanted a repeat of the awful scene from the other day.

“Did you hear that?” she asked her brother, her determination unwavering. “We know you’re in there, listening. You’re not a quitter, never have been. Let us all help you.”

“No,” Micah whispered.

Both he and Rowan leaned forward to hear what else he might say, and she reached up to grip Aric’s hand. The man didn’t speak again. Instead, his eyes welled with tears that spilled down his face, even as he stared into nothingness.

Rowan made a sound of distress and moved as close to him as she could, wrapped an arm around his shoulders and tucked his head under her chin. Rocked and held him tight, talking to him quietly. The blank expression never changed, despite the emotion behind the tears.

Aric had never wanted to run so badly, ever.

Twenty minutes crawled by with excruciating slowness, and finally Rowan eased her brother onto the pillow again. He was asleep, no doubt having worn himself out being full of the despair he couldn’t express.

Aric took her arm. “Come on, sweetheart. You can come back later.” Reluctantly, she allowed him to escort her out. “Hungry for dinner?”

“Not yet. Walk with me?”

“Where to?”

“Anywhere.”

He understood—anywhere but here. He took her hand and they walked together out into the hallway. The more distance they put between themselves and the infirmary, the more the stiffness left her posture.

“He’s going to recover, you know,” Aric told her firmly. “Physically he’s much better already, and Mac will take him the rest of the way. She’s really good at what she does.”

“I know. He’s got great friends, too, to see him through.” She squeezed his hand.

Guilt clogged his throat, but he managed to speak around the terrible knot. “We’ll all do everything in our power to make sure he gets well.”

“I know.” She gave him a small smile. “Alpha Pack may battle monsters, but what you do here is about so much more than that. You guys help the innocent, whether they’re human or not.”

“I hadn’t really thought of it like that, but I guess it’s true. Though Kira and Sariel, with the help of the doctors and nurses on staff, do the hard work of rehabbing all sorts of supernatural beings through their project.”

“Block R. They’ve told me some about it.”

“Did they tell you Nick approved construction of a new building for their program?”

“Kira mentioned it the first day I was here, but just briefly.”

“They’re going to expand and give it a better name, and they plan to make it a haven for displaced paranormals as well as sick ones.”

“That’s a neat thing for them to do.” She paused. “Is there really a basilisk here?”

“Kira told you that?”

“Yes. She also started to say something about a wolf, but Jax stopped her from saying more.”

“Oh. Well, the wolf is a sore subject,” he said, unable to keep the emotion from his voice. “His name is Raven, and he was one of our team members when Micah, Jax, Ryon, Zan, and I were in the SEALs. He was turned along with us. The difference is, he never came back from his shifted form. He’s feral.”

“God, that’s horrible,” she breathed. “They’re trying to reach him?”

“They have been, for almost six years. They’re hoping that with the opening of the new center and hiring an expert or two, they’ll finally succeed.”

Rowan’s expression was so compassionate it made him ache. Why couldn’t this woman be his?

“I hope so, too. What about the basilisk?”

“Actually, he’s a basilisk shifter, and his name is Belial. He’s quite a handful, tries to seduce everyone in sight to get what he wants. Of course, he doesn’t get anywhere because we’ve all got his number. No one trusts him, with good reason.”

“Can’t they kill if a person looks them in the eye?”

“No, that’s Internet bullshit. But when he shifts, he goes from a regular-looking tall, lean guy to a snake the size of a fucking sedan. His fangs are each about a foot long, and he could swallow a full-grown man whole if he wanted. He doesn’t need more abilities than those.”

“Jesus, no kidding.”

“They haven’t let him out much just yet, but Kira’s lobbying for leniency so he can prove himself.”

“He might prove useful in the fight against Sariel’s father and those Sluagh things.”

Aric shrugged. “We’ll see.”

Their trek led to the rec room, where Rowan stopped. “I suppose skipping through the woods is out of the question. What a waste of great scenery.”

“Yeah, unless we want to take two others with us. Kinda cramps the style.” He pulled her toward the sofa. “Want to play a game on the Wii?”

“What are we, twelve?” she joked.

“Mentally, that fits most of us around here. Keeps us sane. Anyway, I love video games. I used to spend hours in my room with my old PlayStation, just to stay away from my stepsister…” He trailed off, immediately cursing his stupid mistake. Of course, she caught his blunder, eyes narrowing.

“So you have a stepsister. You told me you didn’t have any family left.”

“I… Well, my mother remarried when I was in high school, but I don’t consider my stepfather or his daughter to be my family. Far from it,” he said bitterly. “Bruce was a world-class asshole and his precious girl was a witch, and I mean that literally. She still is, and a dangerous one.”

Rowan paused, and he could almost see those dots connecting at warp speed. Why did the woman have to be such a goddamned smart cop? Then again, maybe a tiny part of him wanted to confess to someone who’d understand.

“Do you know where your stepfather and stepsister are these days? What they’re doing?”

“Not my dear old stepdad. But his daughter?” He shook his head, stomach clenching. “I wasn’t so lucky on that score. Beryl turned up in my life a few months ago, like the proverbial bad penny.”

“She found you here, came to see you?”

“Worse. She showed up on Jax’s arm… as his girlfriend.”

Rowan’s eyes rounded. Yep, she got it.

A low snarl sounded from behind them. “You goddamned son of a bitch.”

Oh, fuck. This is gonna be bad.

Heaving a deep breath, he stood and turned. Faced an extremely and justifiably pissed-off Jax, who stood in the door to the rec room, fists clenched, blue eyes sparking with rage. Aric held up his palms.

“Jax—”

“Beryl is your fucking stepsister?” he choked. “You knew. For months, that bitch and her evil cohorts were planning to annihilate us, you knew. And said nothing!”

“I can explain—”

The man crossed the room in three strides and leapt over the back of the sofa, slamming into Aric like a bull out of a chute. Aric flew backward, crashing on top of the coffee table, which shattered into pieces. They hit the floor and he felt a painful stab in his back, probably a shard of wood, as Jax took a handful of his shirt and unloaded on him with a fist that packed the punch of a jackhammer.

Pain exploded in his face, reverberated through his skull. He wondered whether his jaw had been broken, but the blows powered into his head, scattering all thoughts but one—he deserved this. Had it coming for ages. He and Jax had scrapped before, but this time he didn’t fight back, simply took what the man dished out.

His lip split, and blood ran down the back of his throat. Rowan was yelling for help, but Jax was unfazed. His sole mission was to pummel Aric into dust. Then, out of one swelling eye, he saw Nick, Zan, and Hammer appear behind Jax. They grabbed him, pulled him off, though it took all three of them to do it. Jax’s face was a mask of fury as he struggled to come at Aric again.

“Jaxon, cool it!” Nick yelled. “Knock it off!”

Hammer got their friend’s arms pinned at his back. “Jesus, man, what the hell?”

Rowan crouched beside Aric, helped him sit up. “Are you all right?”

Wiping the blood off his lower lip, he winced. “Feel like I was hit by a truck, but yeah.”

“I should fucking kill you,” Jax yelled.

“Maybe you should,” he agreed. That admission seemed to give Jax pause, though he was still plenty angry.

So was Nick. “Anyone care to tell me what’s going on in here? Why the hell are two of my best men going at it like junkyard dogs?”

Jaxon pointed an accusing finger. “Ask him who Beryl is to him! Ask him!”

The other three men looked at him in silent question. He didn’t want to do this, but since he had no choice, he preferred to be on his feet. He stood, with some assistance, and his heart sank. Every single one of the team including the newest, A.J. and Kalen, were waiting for an explanation. Those who’d been around the longest, during Beryl’s time as Jax’s girlfriend and the disastrous aftermath, were wearing hard expressions.

Steeling himself, he told the long-denied truth. “Beryl is my stepsister,” he said. “But I’ve never claimed her as family.”

Zan gaped at him. “Why would you keep this from us? Even if you don’t consider her your sister, why didn’t you tell us?”

Jax lunged again, but was held back. “You should’ve warned us—me—about her true nature. But you never said a word.”

He tried to make them understand. “Looking back, yes, I should have. I was suspicious of Beryl’s motives, but I talked to her and she swore you guys made each other happy. I didn’t think she could’ve changed so much from the selfish bitch I’d known when her father married my mother and they moved in with us. But, Jax, you thought you were in love with her, remember? You wouldn’t have believed me.”

“You never gave me the chance!”

“You thought she was fantastic. Anything I said would’ve hurt our friendship.” He hated the desperate tone of his own voice. The fear.

“You could’ve at least mentioned her tie to you, if nothing else,” Ryon put in. “That’s messed up, man.”

“She begged me not to, and she did a great job of faking sincerity. She said she didn’t want the animosity between us to interfere with the love she’d found with Jax. I wantedto believe her, and that’s why I didn’t say anything. And after the ambush, the guilt was too much and I didn’t know how to come clean. Please, try to understand—”

“What I understand is that you should be dead,” Jax replied coldly. “It should be you.”

Jerking out of his friends’ grasp, he spun and stalked out of the room. Aric’s heart died in his chest, crumbled to ashes. Jax was right.

He had to get the fuck out of here. Whirling, he stumbled blindly for the exit and pushed outside, ignoring Nick’s shout to stop, Rowan’s entreaty to stay, that his friend didn’t mean it. He shut them all out and walked quickly, stripping off his shirt, kicking off his boots and unzipping his jeans. Then he jogged across the lawn, picking up speed until he was running.

He shifted without breaking stride, streaking for the forest. For freedom. If he ran far enough, fast enough, maybe he could outrun his teammates’ voices. The lost souls of Terry, Jonas, Nix, and Ari, accusing.

Do you think we’re out here waiting in despair, just like Micah? Being torn apart, piece by bloody piece, driven out of our minds? Praying for death?

It should be you.

Aric kept running. With no thought of ever going back.

“Aric, wait!” Rowan called. “He didn’t mean it!”

Her lover vanished through the outside door like a demon from hell was after him. The stark, naked agony on his face was something she’d never forget. After a moment’s hesitation, she jogged to the door and, searching, saw him shift and bolt for the woods. No way could she hope to catch him.

Turning back to Aric’s shell-shocked friends, she threw her hands up in frustration. “Well, aren’t you going after him? I sure as hell can’t catch him!”

“Fuck!” Nick burst out, shoving a hand through his dark hair. “Okay, leave Jax alone for now and let’s go.”

They filed out, and Rowan jogged in the other direction, intent on doing everything butleaving Jax in peace. Christ, this place had as much drama going on as they frequently did at the department. One major screwup and too much testosterone in a small space did not make for a harmonious environment.

She spotted her target’s retreating back at the end of the hallway and hurried to catch up. Grabbing his biceps, she jerked hard, which probably wasn’t the smartest move. He faced her with his lips pulled back in a menacing snarl, canines elongated and ready to rip something—or someone—to shreds. A glance at his hands showed that the backs had sprouted fur, his nails morphed into sharp claws that could kill in a split second.

And in that millisecond she thought about retreating with an apology—until she recalled Aric’s face, devoid of all hope.

She let every ounce of venom seep into her voice. “How could you? That man has been your loyal friend for years, ever since you guys were in the military, and you just shit on him?”

“He fucked up and cost us half the team,” Jax yelled.

“You’ve never fucked up?” she countered fiercely. “You’ve never done anything that cost the team? How about trusting the witch and bringing her here to start with?”

Bull’s-eye. For a couple of seconds, she really thought he’d strangle her. The man was big and truly scary, with his spiky black hair, goatee, and the tats running down one arm. But the feral light in his eyes dimmed, the merest fraction.

“If he’d told any of us—”

“Well, he didn’t, and there’s nothing anybody can do about it now. Yes, he screwed up, but he did it out of love for you, with the best of intentions. You heard him—he truly wanted to believe that she loved you and he didn’t want anything to get in the way of your happiness. Be honest. What would you have said to him if he’d bad-mouthed her back then?”

“I would’ve…” His protest trailed off, lost most of its heat. “I would’ve been pissed, and told him that he was full of crap. But we still might’ve caught on to her, if he’d just started the ball rolling.”

“Maybe, maybe not.” Taking a chance, she grasped his shoulder, like she would a fellow officer. In friendship and gentle admonishment. “Jax, you just told a good man, a friend who’s had your back for years, that he should be dead. And he believed you.”

The words hung between them, awful with their weight.

“You did what?”

Both of them looked to Kira, who stood a few feet away staring at her mate as though she didn’t know him at all. She marched up to them, pinning him with a glare that made the tough wolf take a step back.

“Jax, who are you guys talking about?”

“Aric,” he said, his defensive tone suffering a quick demise at her incredulous expression. “I overheard him telling Rowan that Beryl is his stepsister! He kept that from me, from allof us. Don’t you understand what that means?”

“Yes. It means your friend makes mistakes like everyone else,” she snapped. “Don’t you understand how bad he must’ve felt all these months, how he probably has been beating himself up already? And then you came along and kicked him when he was down.”

The silence ticked away and Jax hung his head, pinching his nose. “God. What have I done?”

Kira took her mate’s hand. “Go after him. He’s not going to listen to anyone but you now.”

“I’ll make it right,” he promised hoarsely. The man wrapped his woman tightly in his arms, kissed her hard on the lips, and then headed off.

Rowan watched him go. “I didn’t think this day could get worse, but that’ll teach me to assume.”

To her surprise, Kira gave her a quick hug. “They’ll get things settled and it’ll be okay. This isn’t the first time those two have gone for each other’s throats and it won’t be the last.”

“I’m not sure that’s a comfort.”

“Alpha wolves. What can you do?”

Rowan was sure she had no clue.

Aric’s legs burned. His lungs were on fire, but he didn’t stop. For a while, he wasn’t conscious of where he was going, but in the back of his mind he must’ve known. The trees eventually thinned and he found himself racing toward a place where the earth met the sky. Nothing more than a sheer drop. At the last second, he skidded to a halt and stared over the edge of the deep ravine, breath sawing in and out, sides heaving.

What I understand is that you should be dead. It should be you.

His past had finally caught up with a vengeance. Life or death. Was there a choice, really?

It could all be over so quickly. Even a shifter wouldn’t survive a hundred-foot drop onto the rough terrain below. Wouldn’t that be kinder than dying by slow degrees, longing for a mate he couldn’t claim?

Exhausted, he lowered himself onto his belly and crawled to the lip, resting his muzzle on his paws. Rocks and dirt skittered over, into the abyss. The sun had disappeared behind the horizon, leaving the bottom of the ravine shadowed in blues and grays, cloaked from sight. All was still, the earth holding its breath. Waiting.

One leap. Inches separating him from the end of guilt. Of pain.

For months, he’d blamed Jax for his own kidnapping, for saving Kira and changing fate. But the inescapable truth was that Aric had gotten exactly what he deserved. No, he’d deserved much worse. He should’ve suffered Micah’s fate and much more.

It should be you.

Standing on four shaking legs, he told himself he could do this. His wolf resisted with a growl, his survival instinct strong. He tensed, muscles bunching—

And was struck hard in the side, shoved, sent rolling from danger. He bolted to his feet and found a huge white wolf positioned squarely between him and his goal. Nick. The wolf’s teeth weren’t bared, but his body was like stone, his purpose clear—Aric was not getting past him. Or past the others that suddenly trotted up, surrounding them in a semicircle.