Savage bite den of shado.., p.18
Savage Bite (Den of Shadows Book 1), page 18
Uh, yep. Killing machine.
Fane pawed the ground and used his head to nudge my side so hard I stumbled.
“Hey!” I spun toward him. “Tossing me onto my ass won’t make me transform.” Scary beast or not, I wouldn’t let the prick harass me—more than he already had.
As his nostrils flared and he bared more of his large canines, I felt his patience thinning. But so was mine.
“I’m not changing into any wolfish beast. You tried, and nothing worked. Obviously, I’m not a shifter, so I’ll just go home now.” I pivoted and dashed through the trees.
It was stupid. I knew he’d chase me.
Maybe a tiny part of me wanted him to.
I sprinted over the soft leaves and pine needles as Fane’s presence loomed behind me, moving as silent as a phantom. A wave of heat washed over me before a hard body slammed mine to the ground, and we landed in a pile of crunchy leaves. As I brushed the hair out of my face, I expected a snout.
Instead, Fane had changed back except for his pupils, which remained in black diamond slits. “What exactly do you think you’re doing?” His rough, feral voice shook my bones. “Do you want me to chase you?”
I squirmed beneath him, trying to shove him off. And then I remembered he was naked. The weight of his length rested against my leg, too close to the apex of my thighs, and every bit of my flesh burned against his.
“Stop wriggling,” he roared as his hips pressed into mine to pin me to the ground.
“Then get the hell off me.” My legs slipped out from under him, and my knees bent as I tried to buck him off.
Fane cursed, and the glow in his irises intensified. “Teague, I swear, keep that up, and I might make all your dirty fantasies come true.”
I froze, and our ragged breaths thundered in the peaceful forest. Fane stretched over me with his hips resting between my legs. Electrical currents ran through my bloodstream and leaked into the air around us, creating a bubble of stimuli that couldn’t be ignored.
Neither could he.
Fane had grown hard, and from the tense set of his jaw, he didn’t like it. Or maybe he did, and it pissed him off.
I smirked. “Maybe you’re the one who’s having a bunch of dirty fantasies, Maverick.”
“Fantasies about killing you.” He lifted his hand and wrapped his fingers around my throat. “Squeezing the life out of you.”
Flames licked at every crevice, and I studied his mouth as corrupt thoughts invaded my mind despite the danger he posed. Fane had me completely under his mercy and could snap my neck with that powerful hand. But I couldn’t stop wondering what he tasted like.
Spice and sin. Wicked, depraved, and unapologetic. Fane Maverick would eat me alive.
And I might let him.
A resonant hum rumbled through the demon shifter, setting off tiny sparks in me. “I forgot you like this.” He tightened his grip, and my airways shrank. A terrifying smile melted over his face, and his nose brushed mine as he stared into my eyes, his like liquid fires of blue and gold. “I wonder what else—”
Fane’s head jerked toward the right, and he sniffed the air. The tendons in his neck popped as a snarl slithered out.
“Fucking Dominic.”
My fingers moved to his side, absentmindedly tracing a collection of barely noticeable scars. “Who’s Dominic?”
The demon shifter’s head slowly swiveled back to me as the color drained from his cheeks. And then it hit me. His lips had never moved when he spoke a moment ago. Neither had mine.
All the moisture evaporated from my mouth, and my muscles went limp. “Did we just speak into each other’s mind?”
Fane’s lips curled away from his teeth. “It seems we’ve established a mental link.”
Chapter Twenty-Three
Fane’s voice in my mind burned like lava pouring over my soul, and his fury at this new development lingered on my tongue. Never in my time training as a raven did I think I’d be connected to a nightworlder in any shape or form.
But here I was with a freaky mental link to a hybrid demon shifter.
How was this possible?
My neck tattoo tingled as the man on top of me disappeared, and the massive ebony wolf stood in his place.
The beast loomed over me like a guard, the moon shining on the sharp spikes protruding from his paws as they settled on either side of my head.
“Are we going to talk about this?” Even my mental voice came out shrill and panicked.
He flinched as my words rushed into his mind. “Not now.”
Leaves rustled, yanking my attention away from Fane as a dark caramel wolf emerged through the trees on the right.
“I’m guessing that’s Dominic.”
Fane ignored me and locked his focus on the other wolf as he strolled forward into our space. Dominic’s back arched, spine cracked and popped, and head rolled. The next moment he stood on two feet as a man.
And completely naked.
“Fane Maverick.” The name dropped from his mouth with a lethal mixture of contempt and hate. “If you wanted to mount your woman in private, maybe you should have taken her to a bedroom. But you are a beast so…” He gave a casual shrug.
“I’m not—”
“Shut up, Teague. For once.”
His booming voice in my head stole the words right out of my mouth. His lips pulled back to reveal those lethal teeth, and a warning snarl twisted out, stopping the guy in his tracks. Fane rolled his head, and in one swift move, he shifted back into a man, still braced over me on all fours.
I couldn’t stop from peeking at the massive appendage dangling between his legs. Shit. How did he walk with that thing?
Fane hauled me up and shoved me behind him. “What do you want, Dom?”
Dominic shook strands of honey brown hair from his green eyes. “Who’s your friend? Don’t be shy, sweetheart.”
Invisible bugs crawled over me from the way he said sweetheart. “Call me that again, and I’ll break all of your teeth and make you choke on them.” That was definitely the old Tate coming out to play.
His laughter reverberated through the forest. “Feisty. Where’d you find her, Fane?”
“You couldn’t just stay quiet, could you, Teague?”
“Not a chance, Maverick.”
Fane’s arm curled back to push me farther behind him. “She’s none of your damn business.”
The tattoos continued over his ass, and I had to resist the urge to grab a cheek and squeeze. He could probably bounce ten quarters off that thing.
I shook my head. For shit’s sake, Tate. Get it together.
Dominic took a few steps forward with movements almost as fluid as Fane’s. No ink colored his skin, though, and the few scars spotting his body seemed like scratches compared to the ones marring the demon shifter. “Even though you aren’t part of the pack anymore, you’re on pack lands. I’m Dorian’s second, and he’s beta to the alpha, so whatever you do and whoever you bring here is my business.”
Why did Fane leave the pack? Or did they force him out?
The air around Fane crackled, and his flesh puckered as the beast within him fought for control. He wanted to let it out to tear Dominic to shreds. The amount of malice pulsating from him would make most collapse to their knees and beg for mercy.
But something kept Fane from attacking. Maybe he didn’t want to do anything to hurt his family who did belong to the Mohan pack.
I rested my hand between his shoulder blades and took a deep breath, willing him to do the same like I had at dinner. After a few tense moments, he mimicked my slow breathing.
How could I calm him when I could also provoke his worst temper?
Dominic took another step closer and sniffed the air. “She’s a tasty female shifter. Too bad your stench is all over her.” He licked his lips. “I can take care of that, though. She’ll smell like sex and me when I’m done with her.”
A low, menacing laugh that sounded like something from a horror film curled out of Fane, and as he angled his head, I caught the crimson glow that spilled into his irises. “Try it. I fucking dare you.”
Some of the bravado melted away from Dominic, and he shuffled back, the leaves crunching under his bare feet.
This was the first time Fane had seemed more demon than man or shifter. My knees trembled, but it wasn’t out of fear. Adrenaline pumped through my veins, and I wanted to wrap my arms around him for threatening Dominic after what he hinted at doing to me.
No one had ever done that for me. I didn’t even care if Fane’s only reason was to protect the Infernal Sol.
“You’re lucky we’re not alone, Dom.” Fane rolled his shoulders as if he was shaking off the urge to murder him. “And as for your beta, I could take him just as easily as you. I could take your alpha too. No problem.”
His family had alluded to that during dinner. Fane could challenge the alpha—the current or the next—and win. I had no doubt about it, even if I hadn’t seen either of them.
The blood drained from Dominic’s face, and he spat at the ground. “Fuck you, you half-breed mutt. If you took the pack, no one would follow you.” Another cruel twist of his lips had me moving away from Fane so I could march over and smack the other shifter. “We’d all turn our backs on you like—”
A vicious, feral growl erupted from Fane, shaking the forest around us. I slammed my hands over my ears to muffle the thunderous roar as it intensified, sending birds into the air. I stumbled, smashing into his back.
Fane’s fury washed over Dominic and forced him to his knees and then his belly. Howls from other wolves in the distance responded as if they couldn’t refuse such a powerful call.
Hell, even I wanted to howl.
Dominic rolled on the ground and then shifted back into a wolf. As Fane’s bellow slowly died, the other wolf darted off into the forest with his tail between his legs, leaving me with the angry shifter.
Fane’s muscles twitched and rippled beneath his fiery skin. I was surprised steam wasn’t rising off him. He jammed his fingers in his hair, his back still toward me.
My pulse raced, and electricity prickled the air. My entire body buzzed like I’d been struck with a live wire. The silence thickened, and as more time passed, the harder it became to speak. So I talked with my mind instead.
“Well, he seems nice.”
This unfroze Fane, and a menacing snarl that rose the tiny hairs on my nape rolled out of him. He stomped away and yanked his jeans from the ground.
“Are we leaving?” I asked, finally remembering how to form audible words.
He grabbed his t-shirt. “If that didn’t make you shift, then it’s not happening tonight.”
But he was certain that I would shift. It was just a matter of time.
After returning from the woods, Fane stormed off and left me downstairs alone. The Anders were still out running through the forest or whatever wolves did. I watched television for a while before heading to the guest room I’d dropped my bag in earlier. As usual, nightmares laced my sleep, mixed with a few moments of reprieve. A memory of Jayla seeped in between the bouts of darkness and peace…
“Just leave me alone. I’m not interested.”
My boots skidded to a stop as a tiny, shaky female voice echoed from the shadows of an alley.
“Come on, baby doll,” a guy said. “You’re going to freeze to death if you stay out here. We’ll get you warm if you come with us.”
“Yeah.” The other male’s scratchy voice made my flesh pucker. “We’ll even give you some food. You must be hungry. Charlie and I have a place just down the street.”
Silver flashed under the pale moonlight as she brandished a knife. “I said leave me alone. I’m not afraid to use this.”
Charlie, the first guy who spoke, laughed. “What are you going to do with that? You’ll only hurt yourself.”
“Not before I hurt you,” she hissed.
My stomach tightened. Jayla, that kid who kept hanging around me, had gotten herself in trouble. I toyed with the zipper on my faux leather jacket, debating my options. She wasn’t any of my business, and she did have a knife. She’d never be able to survive out here if she didn’t learn to take care of herself like I had.
“Grab her knife, Miles.”
Jayla screeched. “Give that back!”
Damn it.
I sprinted down the backstreet, my steps so swift and quiet Miles didn’t see me lunge at him. I slammed my fist into his throat and then slapped him across his cheek.
He dropped the knife and stumbled into a wall, grabbing his face. “What the fuck?” His scrawny frame wouldn’t take much to knock out.
A holey graphic tee hung off his sharp shoulders, and the dirty, ripped jeans barely held onto his bony hips. Red rimmed his hazy eyes, and his teeth shone yellow in the dim streetlights. Scabs dotted his face.
Definitely a druggie. He wasn’t much of a challenge.
But, Charlie, standing over six feet with broad shoulders, would be a problem. Drugs hadn’t yet consumed his body.
“You two must be new in these parts,” I said, keeping my stance casual as my muscles remained at the ready. “Little girls are off limits, so go find some other source of entertainment, you sick freaks.”
Charlie flicked limp, greasy blond hair out of his chubby face and sneered, deepening the dent in his chin. “What are you going to do about it? You’re barely bigger than she is.” He pointed to Jayla who plastered herself against the brick wall, quivering.
“Maybe I’ll rip your balls off and make your friend choke on them.” I jerked my thumb to Miles who had recovered from his shock.
He grabbed for Jayla’s knife, but she went into action and stuck her foot out to trip him. The skinny guy fell to the concrete, his bony arms barely catching him.
“You little—”
I darted forward and kicked his rib cage. And then I did it again.
Charlie gripped me around the waist and dragged me from his friend. My back hit the hard wall, and his meaty fist raised to punch me.
If he succeeded, he’d knock me out. I couldn’t let that happen.
I ducked at the last second, and his knuckles crashed into the bricks, the snapping of bones resonating through the night. Charlie screamed and examined his bloody mess of a hand. While he was distracted, I spun behind him and jammed my boot into the back of his knee.
He crashed to the ground, using his good hand to catch himself, but that left an opening for me. I kicked his chin, and he twisted around, landing on his back.
“Tate, watch out!”
Jayla’s voice had me spinning, and I jerked my head to the side, barely missing Miles’s strike, his knuckles grazing my cheek. I blocked his feeble kick and then crushed my elbow into his sternum.
Miles cursed and stumbled away, grabbing his torso. “You’re going to pay for this, little bitch.”
A dry laugh slipped out. “I’ve heard that before.”
As he came at me again, I clutched his arm, pulling so hard he staggered right into my fist. After another hit to his jaw, he crashed to the concrete, out cold. I lurched forward and started checking his pockets for his wallet.
Score. I snatched the wad of twenties out and dropped the cheap leather case on the ground.
“The big one’s up.” Jayla bounced on her toes, pointing to Charlie as he scrambled to his feet.
I rolled my shoulders and shook my arms. This one wouldn’t stay down, but he couldn’t move as fast, so running might be our best option.
“Stay the hell out of this neighborhood.” I sprinted toward him, ducking as he tried to catch me, and I rammed my knee into his groin.
His yell traveled down the alley, scaring away a few stray cats. Before he recovered, I gripped his greasy hair to hold him as I clawed his face.
Whatever works.
Charlie snarled and shoved me off, falling into a pile of moldy boxes. He held his crotch, cursing up a storm while blood trickled down his cheek from my nails.
“If you come to this side of town again, you’ll be leaving in a body bag.” I snatched Jayla’s arm, and we booked it out of the alley and down the sidewalk.
“Holy shit,” she screeched, her wool scarf fluttering behind her. “That was amazing!”
I did have some serious skills.
After a few minutes, we stopped and leaned against the exterior of the Crispy Bacon Diner to catch our breath.
“You kicked their asses.” She brushed black curls off her forehead and tucked them back into her gray knit hat, grinning from ear to ear. “The big, dumb one looked like a bear that got stung by a wasp right in the nuts.”
My lips pressed together, but I couldn’t stop the laughter from bursting out. “I’ve never seen anything like that, but it sounds accurate.”
“I saw it happen once when I lived in the mountains with my great aunt,” she said. “The bear yelled and stumbled around until it jumped into the creek. I felt sorry for the bear. I don’t feel sorry for the guy.”
“He deserved it. And more.” I rolled my neck and flexed my fingers. Two of my knuckles were split, and bruises would color them in a few hours, but stopping those creeps from hurting the kid was worth it.
Rescuing her this one time didn’t make me soft. Besides, I got some cash out of it.
I tilted my head toward the diner. “You hungry? It’s on me. Actually, it’s on Miles.”
“Hell, yeah.” Jayla darted for the door and yanked it open. “I want a big milkshake.”
I followed her. “Get some real food too.” For shit’s sake, I already sounded like a mother…
I startled awake in a bed, panic scraping over my skin at the unfamiliar surroundings. My heart crashed against my ribs, and my frantic breaths ripped the silence of the room apart. Light blue walls met rich hardwoods, and lavender perfumed the air. A shaft of soft moonlight streamed through the windows and brightened the painting of a rainy forest on the wall.
One of Fane’s.
Memories of the night I saved Jayla from those creeps drifted away, and I collapsed back onto the pillows. A bitter tang coated my mouth because I missed her, but I didn’t have any right to.
